ICYMI: March Roundup
AI deepfakes, an op-ed about alternative platforms, conspiracy theories about Bill Gates, and election denialist chatter about Georgia voting
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Here’s a look back at the stories we published in March.
Dark Market for Explicit AI ‘Deepfakes’ Evolves on 4chan
This piece took a deep look at 4chan’s “Adult Requests” imageboard. While the subforum was initially dedicated to discussing and sharing pornography, in recent years it has since evolved to become one of the largest distributors of nonconsensual sexual images made with generative AI tools — offer referred to as “deepfakes.” The imageboard’s users almost exclusively target female subjects in their abuse, some of which plausibly appeared to be minors.
Alternative Platforms Aren’t Fringe Anymore
Our CEO, Hank Teran, wrote this op-ed to dispel suggestions from researchers and journalists that alternative social media platforms are a dying breed. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Our team continues to see niche and specialized social platforms influence the broader internet in profound ways and produce unique harms.
Conspiracy Theories About Bill Gates See Revival Following ‘Epstein Files’ Release
Bill Gates, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, has been the subject of far-fetched conspiracy theories for as long as we can remember. After the US Department of Justice released millions of “Epstein Files” in January, some of which included communications Gates and his top associates had with the child sex offender in the early 2010s, those conspiracy theories saw a resurgence among far-right communities.
Election Denialists’ Obsession with Georgia Fueled by Narratives From Gateway Pundit
Ahead of 2026 midterm elections, our team has been checking in on the state of election denialist chatter surrounding key states. In this piece, they focused on Georgia. We found that conspiracy theorists’ chatter about voting in the state was heavily shaped by a small number of actors — most notably The Gateway Pundit, a pro-Trump conspiracy blog.
Polymarket Taps Palantir for On-Chain Monitoring as Fraudulent Schemes Thrive Off-Chain on Telegram
Polymarket, a so-called “prediction market” that allows users to gamble on the outcomes of virtually any future event, has scrambled to introduce new policies and initiatives meant to address concerns about insider betting and platform integrity. Most of the company’s efforts focus on activity on the platform itself, but our researchers uncovered a host of suspicious activity being organized off-platform on Telegram.
Polymarket Taps Palantir for On-Chain Monitoring as Fraudulent Schemes Thrive Off-Chain on Telegram
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