Elon’s “Nudify” Mess: How X Supercharged Deepfakes
On Christmas Eve, Elon Musk’s X rolled out an in-app tool that lets users alter other people’s photos and post the results directly in reply. With minimal safeguards, it quickly became a pipeline for sexualized, non-consensual deepfakes, including imagery involving minors, delivered straight into victims’ notifications.
Renée DiResta, Hany Farid, and Casey Newton join Kara to dig into the scale of the harm, the failure of app stores and regulators to act quickly, and why the “free speech” rhetoric used to defend the abuse is incoherent. Kara explores what accountability could look like — and what comes next as AI tools get more powerful.
Renée DiResta is the former technical research manager at Stanford's Internet Observatory. She researched online CSAM for years and is one of the world’s leading experts on online disinformation and propaganda. She’s also the author of Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality.
Hany Farid is a professor of computer sciences and engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He’s been described as the father of digital image forensics and has spent years developing tools to combat CSAM.
Casey Newton is the founder of the tech newsletter Platformer and the co-host of The New York Times podcast Hard Fork.
This episode was recorded on Tuesday, January 20th.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for X referred us to a a statement post on X, which reads in part:
We remain committed to making X a safe platform for everyone and continue to have zero tolerance for any forms of child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content.
We take action to remove high-priority violative content, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) and non-consensual nudity, taking appropriate action against accounts that violate our X Rules. We also report accounts seeking Child Sexual Exploitation materials to law enforcement authorities as necessary.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
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Studying online bad behavior was hard. It's going to get harder in Trump 2.0
Hello, Nilay here. We’re still on winter break; we’ll be back with brand-new Decoder interviews next week, and with our Thursday shows later this month. I’m excited for what we’ve got in the pipeline. I think you’re going to love it.
For today, though, we’re sharing an episode of Peter Kafka’s new show Channels – he’s talking to disinformation researcher Renee DiResta about what’s going on with speech online in an era where platforms seem less inclined to moderate than ever. Peter’s an old friend and Renee is an expert on all this — there’s a lot of core Decoder themes in this one. Enjoy, and we’ll be back in a bit.
Links:
Channels with Peter Kafka | Apple Podcasts
The Stanford Internet Observatory is being dismantled | Platformer
A major disinformation research center’s future looks uncertain | The Verge
Supreme Court to hear case on how government talks to social platforms | The Verge
GOP targets researchers who study disinformation ahead of 2024 Election | NYT
She warned of ‘peer-to-peer misinformation.’ Congress listened | NYT
Disinformation watchdogs are under pressure. This group refuses to stop | NYT
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
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How the Right Launders Online Propaganda with Renée DiResta
Renée DiResta is one the world’s leading experts on online disinformation and propaganda and the author of the new book, Invisible Rulers, The People Who Turn Lies into Reality. About two months ago, DiResta found out her contract as the technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory would not be renewed. What’s more, the SIO, one of the foremost academic programs studying abuse online, would be essentially hollowed out. The university blames funding challenges, and says it has “not shut down or dismantled SIO as a result of outside pressure.” However, many journalists and fellow researchers suspect that political pressure from the right, including congressional hearings led by Rep. Jim Jordan and lawsuits from people like Stephen Miller, caused Stanford to cave.
Kara and Renée discuss the drama at the SIO; Invisible Rulers; the coordinated effort by the right to target academic researchers who study online propaganda and disinformation; the larger strategy to push back against content moderation by social media platforms; and the role the platforms themselves and their CEOS (looking at you, Elon) play in this fight.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find Kara on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher
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#378 — Digital Delusions
Sam Harris speaks with Renée DiResta about the state of our information landscape. They discuss the difference between influence and propaganda, shifts in communication technology, influencers and closed communities, the asymmetry of passion online and the illusion of consensus, the unwillingness to criticize one's own side, audience capture, what we should have learned from the Covid pandemic, what is unique about vaccines, Renée's work at the Stanford Internet Observatory, her experience of being smeared by Michael Shellenberger and Matt Taibbi, Elon Musk and the Twitter files, the false analogy of social media as a digital public square, the imagined "censorship-industrial complex," the 2024 presidential election, and other topics.
If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.
Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That's why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life's most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.
A Surgeon General Warning + Is Disinformation Winning? + The CryptoPACs Are Coming
The Surgeon General is calling for warning labels on social media platforms: Should Congress give his proposal a like? Then, former Stanford researcher Renée DiResta joins us to talk about her new book on modern propaganda and whether we are losing the war against disinformation. And finally, the Times reporter David Yaffe-Bellany stops by to tell us how crypto could reshape the 2024 elections.
Guests
Renée DiResta, author of “Invisible Rulers,” former technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory
David Yaffe-Bellany, New York Times technology reporter
Additional Reading:
Surgeon General: Why I’m Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms
My Encounter With the Fantasy-Industrial Complex
How Crypto Money Is Poised to Influence the Election
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The Fog of War: Navigating Disinformation Now
Social media has been inundated with disinformation about the Israel-Hamas war — from a flood of graphic visual content, to unsubstantiated claims and opportunistic content generation (and monetization) by third parties to this conflict.
To make sense of this fog of war, we turn to a panel that brings together a reporter, a researcher and a former Facebook/Meta insider: Shayan Sardarizadeh is a senior disinformation journalist with the BBC, Renée DiResta is a research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, and Katie Harbath spent 10 years as the public policy director at Facebook. Together, they unpack how we got here – and how we might seek clarity in a moment fogged by intense emotion, unfolding information and immense complexity.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza
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#310 — Social Media & Public Trust
Sam Harris speaks with Bari Weiss, Michael Shellenberger, and Renee DiResta about the release of "the Twitter files" and the loss of trust in the institutions of media and government. They discuss Bari and Michael's experience of participating in the Twitter files release, the problem of misinformation, the relationship between Twitter and the federal government, Russian influence operations, the challenges of content moderation, Hunter Biden's infamous laptop, the need for transparency, platforms vs. publishers, Twitter's resistance to the FBI, political bias at Twitter, J.K. Rowling, the inherent subjectivity of moderation decisions, the rise of competitive platforms, rumors vs. misinformation, how Twitter attempted to control the spread of Covid misinformation, the throttling of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the failure of institutions to communicate Covid information well, the risk of paternalism, abuses of power, and other topics.
If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.
Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That's why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life's most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.
Amazon Rigs Search, Social Media 'Ampliganda,' Netflix Protests — With Adrianne Jeffries, Renee DiResta, and Zoë Schiffer
Join us for a 'mega' episode with three guests! The Markup investigative reporter Adrianne Jeffries leads off with a discussion of Amazon's self-preferencing in search. Stanford Internet Observatory's Renee DiResta joins for our second segment to discuss her story on bottom-up propaganda on social media, something she calls 'ampliganda.' Verge Reporter Zoë Schiffer rounds out the week with a look into the state of worker activism at Netflix and Apple.
Check out Adrianne's story on The Markup, Renee's in The Atlantic, and Zoe's on The Verge.
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#145 — The Information War
Sam Harris speaks with Renee Diresta about Russia's "Internet Research Agency" and its efforts to amplify conspiracy thinking and partisan conflict in the United States.
If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.
