News
Iran Is Winning the AI Slop Propaganda War
“White House videos—AI or otherwise—are like group-chat in-jokes aimed at keeping cohesion.”
pornhub
Pornhub Pulls Out of Texas
All of the sites in Aylo's network, including Pornhub, YouPorn, and Brazzers, are blocked in Texas, their homepages replaced with a message about the company's rejection of age verification laws.
tinder
I Tried a Bot That Swipes Tinder For Me
BaddieFinder is based on one man's idea of hot women. So I gave it a test run through my own Tinder account.
News
FTC Goes Undercover Against Fake Antivirus Companies
Companies called Restoro and Reimage are allegedly behind pop-ups that trick people into downloading a piece of fake antivirus software and paying sizable fees.
pornhub
The Rise, Fall, and Revival of Pornhub
In a new series by CBC Podcasts, hosted by 404 Media's Sam Cole, former employees, performers, and the new owners themselves speak out about Pornhub's influence on the industry and beyond.
TikTok
The U.S. Wants to Ban TikTok for the Sins of Every Social Media Company
The TikTok situation is an untenable mess. Banning it will further balkanize the internet.
News
Massively Popular Safe Locks Have Secret Backdoor Codes
Senator Ron Wyden has found that the DoD banned the use of such locks for U.S. government systems, but deliberately kept information about the backdoors from the public.
Podcast
Podcast: How Hackers Steal Mountains of Oxy and Adderall
Fraudsters and hackers hijack the electronic prescription system; 404 Media is included in a Russia disinformation campaign; and how we bypassed the "no-go voice" policy of ElevenLabs.
Amazon
Amazon Tells Warehouse Workers to Close Their Eyes and Think Happy Thoughts
"Close your eyes and think about something that makes you happy," the screen, titled "Savoring," instructs Amazon fulfillment center workers.
Amazon
Amazon's Hidden Chatbot Recommends Nazi Books and Lies About Amazon Working Conditions
An AI tool created to let people search reviews actually lets you use it like any other chatbot.
News
Why Is 404 Media Included in a Fake Netflix Trailer Made by Russia?
A sprawling disinformation campaign is targeting journalists and making 404 Media part of the story.
FOIA
Internal Emails Show Cops Thought ‘Call of Duty’ Recruitment Ad Could Piss Off Activision
Internal emails obtained by 404 Media show that police who made a 'Call of Duty' themed recruitment poster were more worried about legal issues from Activision than the obviously problematic framing of policing as a video game.
malware
'Sydney Sweeney Leak' Malware is All Over Twitter
The platform is full of links to celebrity "leaks" that likely lead to malware.