Hacker Compromises a16z-Backed Phone Farm, Tries to Post Memes Calling a16z the ‘Antichrist’ Doublespeed uses a phone farm to flood social media with AI-generated influencers. A hacker managed to get into a backend system of the company.

“a16z is the antichrist. sponsored by doublespeed.ai,” the meme says. It includes images of a16z co-founder Marc Andreessen; a woman pole dancing; and occult symbol Baphomet.www.404media.co/hacker-compr...t/

Google, Microsoft, Meta All Tracking You Even When You Opt Out, According to an Independent Audit “This is the Strait of Hormuz in the data economy. If you want to make a change, this is where you cut it off. Anything short of that is theatrical political posture.”

“In many ways fines have come to replace taxes,” he said. “What I’m trying to show here is, ‘How is enforcement failing?’" www.404media.co/google-micro...

FBI Extracts Suspect’s Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database The case was the first time authorities charged people for alleged “Antifa” activities after President Trump designated the umbrella term a terrorist organization.

Signal already has a setting that blocks message content from displaying in push notifications; the case highlights why such a feature might be important for some users to turn on. www.404media.co/fbi-extracts...

World’s Largest Group of Chimps Waging Deadly ‘Civil War,’ Scientists Discover At least 24 chimpanzees have been killed in a war that has split the Ngogo group of wild chimpanzees in two, turning former kin into enemies.

"It must be their interpersonal social bonds and daily conflicts, reconciliations, and avoidances—all those dynamics. If that's the case with chimps, to what extent is it the case in humans? It’s a hypothesis to be tested.”
www.404media.co/worlds-large...

Babies Born from Dead Parents Will Increase with New Tech. Are We Ready? Reproductive technologies have enabled children to be posthumously conceived from the frozen eggs and sperm of deceased parents, raising legal, ethical, and practical questions.

Reproductive technologies have enabled children to be posthumously conceived from the frozen eggs and sperm of deceased parents, raising legal, ethical, and practical questions.

FAA Scraps Civil and Criminal Penalties for Flying Drones Near ICE Vehicles You won’t go to jail for filming ICE with a drone, but the government may still shoot it down and it expanded the list of protected agencies to include the Department of Justice.

big news, the FAA has gotten rid of criminal penalties for flying drones near ICE vehicles

Thomson Reuters Shareholders Demand Investigation into ICE Contracts The shareholders explicitly cited multiple 404 Media investigations, including one that showed Thomson Reuters' CLEAR is integrated with a tool ICE uses to find neighborhoods to target.

NEW: On Wednesday shareholders in Thomson Reuters demanded the company’s board launch an investigation into whether its products have contributed to human rights violations, specifically with regards to Thomson Reuters’ ongoing sale of peoples’ personal data to ICE.

www.404media.co/thomson-reut...

I Almost Lost My Mind in the Bridal Algorithm As a #2026Bride, the constant, aggressive content started to make me feel like I was losing sight of what mattered. And I'm far from alone.

I never had a set vision of my wedding. I just didn't want to be stressed.

But a single search led me to the hellscape that is the wedding algorithm, a machine that perfected the art of making me feel weird, broke, and ugly.

Welcome to getting married in 2026, @samleecole.bsky.social writes.

Google, Microsoft, Meta All Tracking You Even When You Opt Out, According to an Independent Audit “This is the Strait of Hormuz in the data economy. If you want to make a change, this is where you cut it off. Anything short of that is theatrical political posture.”

“In many ways fines have come to replace taxes,” he said. “What I’m trying to show here is, ‘How is enforcement failing?’"

"What I did not account for—shamefully, considering how much time I spend writing about technology in my professional life—[was how the algorithm] was perfecting the art of making me feel weird, broke, and ugly."

@samleecole.bsky.social on getting married in 2026.
www.404media.co/wedding-plan...

for a second my algo was poisoned in making this video but we’re so back

"What I did not account for—shamefully, considering how much time I spend writing about technology in my professional life—[was how the algorithm] was perfecting the art of making me feel weird, broke, and ugly."

@samleecole.bsky.social on getting married in 2026.
www.404media.co/wedding-plan...

Microsoft Abruptly Terminates VeraCrypt Account, Halting Windows Updates Updates to VeraCrypt, a popular and long-running piece of encryption, are now thrown into doubt because of a seemingly unexplained Microsoft decision.

Updates to VeraCrypt, a popular and long-running piece of encryption, are now thrown into doubt because of a seemingly unexplained Microsoft decision.

Google, Microsoft, Meta All Tracking You Even When You Opt Out, According to an Independent Audit “This is the Strait of Hormuz in the data economy. If you want to make a change, this is where you cut it off. Anything short of that is theatrical political posture.”

“In many ways fines have come to replace taxes,” he said. “What I’m trying to show here is, ‘How is enforcement failing?’"

The Destroyed Remnants of a Lost World Are Falling to Earth, Scientists Discover A rare class of meteorites called angrites likely come from a strange protoplanet that was catastrophically destroyed in the early solar system, leaving only fragmentary remnants.

A rare class of meteorites called angrites likely come from a strange protoplanet that was catastrophically destroyed in the early solar system, leaving only fragmentary remnants.

Behind the Blog: Jazz and Journalism This week, we discuss the Madonna-whore algorithm, reader tips, and jazz.

This week, we discuss the Madonna-whore algorithm, reader tips, and jazz.

App Stores Push Users Toward Nudify Apps, New Research Shows Findings from the Tech Transparency Project claim that Google and Apple’s app stores not only host harmful apps that can undress images of women, but encourage users to find them.

Findings from the Tech Transparency Project claim that Google and Apple’s app stores not only host harmful apps that can undress images of women, but encourage users to find them.

I Almost Lost My Mind in the Bridal Algorithm As a #2026Bride, the constant, aggressive content started to make me feel like I was losing sight of what mattered. And I'm far from alone.

The fact that I can be swayed at all by what an internet person thinks, as a 36 year old with decades of being socially weird under my belt, disturbs me.

Read about @samleecole.bsky.social's mess of an experience going down the wedding algo hole.

I Almost Lost My Mind in the Bridal Algorithm As a #2026Bride, the constant, aggressive content started to make me feel like I was losing sight of what mattered. And I'm far from alone.

This is a great (and horrifying?) piece about how Sam, in preparation for her marriage, was pulled into the bridal algorithm. Her experience of social media changed completely overnight www.404media.co/wedding-plan...

I Almost Lost My Mind in the Bridal Algorithm As a #2026Bride, the constant, aggressive content started to make me feel like I was losing sight of what mattered. And I'm far from alone.

One bakery asked for my mood board—for a cake.

Like... flavors? I felt like I’d missed a step going down the stairs. I didn't have a vision board for the cake. I needed a vision board for the cake.

I Almost Lost My Mind in the Bridal Algorithm As a #2026Bride, the constant, aggressive content started to make me feel like I was losing sight of what mattered. And I'm far from alone.

Let's look at some of the mess I was served in algo:

- “Everything I did to ‘lock in’ for my wedding & lose 34 lbs"
- “If you spend $150k on a wedding and stay married for 40 years, that's only about $10 a day."
- “25 Things Guests Secretly Hate About Weddings"

I Almost Lost My Mind in the Bridal Algorithm As a #2026Bride, the constant, aggressive content started to make me feel like I was losing sight of what mattered. And I'm far from alone.

I never had a set vision of my wedding. I just didn't want to be stressed.

But a single search led me to the hellscape that is the wedding algorithm, a machine that perfected the art of making me feel weird, broke, and ugly.

Welcome to getting married in 2026, @samleecole.bsky.social writes.

Like Lillie, the moment I got engaged and started Googling wedding dresses and venues was the moment my entire social media experience shifted into the Bride Algo. Every Reel and Tiktok, and I do mean every single post, contained something new I needed to change about myself: “Everything I did to ‘lock in’ for my wedding & lose 34 lbs in 5 months without missing out on living life.” “If you spend $150k on a wedding and stay married for 40 years, that's only about $10 a day. Not bad for one of the best days of your life.” “What I will NOT be doing as a 2026 bride.” “Bridal Breakdown PSA to 2026 Brides.” “POV: You’re not fat, you’re just puffy.” “25 Things Guests Secretly Hate About Weddings” “LEAVE THAT MAN AT THE ALTAR”

a place I wouldn't go back to with a gun www.404media.co/wedding-plan...

I Almost Lost My Mind in the Bridal Algorithm As a #2026Bride, the constant, aggressive content started to make me feel like I was losing sight of what mattered. And I'm far from alone.

allow me to take you on a journey into the yawning maw of Weddingtok: www.404media.co/wedding-plan...

I Almost Lost My Mind in the Bridal Algorithm As a #2026Bride, the constant, aggressive content started to make me feel like I was losing sight of what mattered. And I'm far from alone.

As a #2026Bride, the constant, aggressive content started to make me feel like I was losing sight of what mattered. And I'm far from alone.

Thomson Reuters Shareholders Demand Investigation into ICE Contracts The shareholders explicitly cited multiple 404 Media investigations, including one that showed Thomson Reuters' CLEAR is integrated with a tool ICE uses to find neighborhoods to target.

This also follows an internal protest in which more than 200 Thomson Reuters employees sent leadership a letter expressing their concern with those contracts. As 404 Media reported on Tuesday, Thomson Reuters fired the worker who led that effort, according to a newly filed lawsuit.

Thomson Reuters Shareholders Demand Investigation into ICE Contracts The shareholders explicitly cited multiple 404 Media investigations, including one that showed Thomson Reuters' CLEAR is integrated with a tool ICE uses to find neighborhoods to target.

The proposal laid out the legal risks Thomson Reuters may face by providing data to ICE. “ICE’s immigration enforcement activities are the subject of multiple lawsuits in response to credible reports of unlawful and improper detentions, due process violations, surveillance of citizens, and deaths."

Thomson Reuters Shareholders Demand Investigation into ICE Contracts The shareholders explicitly cited multiple 404 Media investigations, including one that showed Thomson Reuters' CLEAR is integrated with a tool ICE uses to find neighborhoods to target.

The proposal repeatedly cites 404 Media’s investigations, including:

- Sources confirming a Palantir-made tool for ICE to find neighborhoods to raid uses Thomson Reuters data

- How data from Thomson Reuters can be combined with license plate reader data from Motorola

Thomson Reuters Shareholders Demand Investigation into ICE Contracts The shareholders explicitly cited multiple 404 Media investigations, including one that showed Thomson Reuters' CLEAR is integrated with a tool ICE uses to find neighborhoods to target.

NEW: On Wednesday shareholders in Thomson Reuters demanded the company’s board launch an investigation into whether its products have contributed to human rights violations, specifically with regards to Thomson Reuters’ ongoing sale of peoples’ personal data to ICE.

www.404media.co/thomson-reut...

Thomson Reuters Shareholders Demand Investigation into ICE Contracts The shareholders explicitly cited multiple 404 Media investigations, including one that showed Thomson Reuters' CLEAR is integrated with a tool ICE uses to find neighborhoods to target.

The shareholders explicitly cited multiple 404 Media investigations, including one that showed Thomson Reuters' CLEAR is integrated with a tool ICE uses to find neighborhoods to target.