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Steven Monacelli

I'm at Steven Monacelli. I'm a freelance investigative journalist in Dallas, Texas, where I primarily focus on extremism, disinformation, social movements, and the influence of dark money in politics. I …

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Emily Lundquist

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Colette Bennett

Hi! My name is Colette, and I knew I wanted to be a writer at age 9. I'm grateful and lucky today to be able to not only to make …

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Charlotte Colombo

NCTJ-equivalent trained journalist. Specialisms include neurodiversity, entertainment, social issues, internet culture and lifestyle.

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Chidinma Divine Iwu

Everyday, I am plagued with the thought that I may never write a good bio, but that's not even my problem. I fear that I will not be mentally prepared …

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Jera Brown — Freelance Writer

Queer, nonbinary freelance writer focusing on sexuality, spirituality, and social justice topics. Current projects include: - Just the Tip — an inclusive sex and relationship advice column- Radical Soul Newsletter …

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Latest Articles

People are feeding AI the same image 100 times, and it keeps changing race, gender, and weight. Here's why that's a problem:

The internet has a new AI-image generation trend, and as usual, it’s proving highly divisive. The craze began with a now-viral video where a user inputted a picture of his friend into ChatGPT—instructing it to “create the exact replica of this image, don’t change a thing,” over 70 times. The …
By Laura Holliday
• The Daily Dot

Leftist Twitch steamer, U.S citizen, says CBP searched phone at Mexico border

A self-described “leftist shitposter” said he had his phone searched while coming back into the U.S. from Mexico on March 31. The search comes as reports of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) searching travelers’ phones when entering the United States increase and, in some cases, denying entry over anti-Trump social …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

EXCLUSIVE: Former U.S. military members, Patriot Front dropout secretly run Nazi publishing houses

In September 2024, a man by the name of “Royce” appeared on Stew Peters’ “Uncancelable” podcast.Peters is an extreme right-wing ideologue with over 500,000 followers on Rumble. He kicked off this particular episode by offering viewers a promo code for a Holocaust denial website.Royce was there to promote Europa: The …
By Steven Monacelli
• The Daily Dot

Columbia anonymous messaging app explodes in fury after Mahmoud Khalil arrest

The private messaging app Sidechat exploded following the arrest of a Palestinian activist who helped lead campus protests at Columbia University. Sidechat, an anonymous messaging app popular with college students that requires a university email address, has previously been used to coordinate protests at several American university campuses. It has …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

X users aren't buying Musk's claim Ukraine was behind site's massive outage

Users on X are having a hard time believing Elon Musk’s claim that Ukraine was behind the site’s massive outage yesterday. Following lengthy outages on Monday that left thousands of users without access, Musk claimed the site experienced a “massive cyberattack.”“There was (still is) a massive cyberattack against X,” he …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

A Hitler-quoting 'Aryan' has the attention of JD Vance and Elon Musk—who is @captivedreamer7?

Days after the 2024 election, Vice President JD Vance followed @captivedreamer7, an X user who boasted that his viral tweets about Haitians allegedly eating cats in September 2024 put it on Vance’s radar, sparking a weeks-long panic. The specious tale of migrants was a microcosm of both the election and …
By Steven Monacelli
• The Daily Dot

Gruesome POV TikToks of horrific tragedies are the latest get-rich-quick AI scheme

A TikTok with over 2.4 million views begins with the title “POV: You wake up as a slave in 1800s America.” Viewers “awake” to see their outstretched legs on the ground of a dirt-floor shack, before “blinking” and reappearing in a field, holding a basket of cotton, as other enslaved …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

DOGE has saved Americans $55 billion. Or $24 billion. Or just $1.5 billion

In just a month of cost-cutting, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) saved the federal government $55 billion. Or $24 billion. Or $16 billion. Or, barely over a billion dollars. A spate of trackers keeping an eye on DOGE’s contract terminations has sprung up—including on DOGE’s own website—and no …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

Meta's AI Instagram bots spark swift backlash: 'Manufacturing the human experience'

Internet users swiftly went to work in the wake of an interview Meta executive Connor Hayes had with the Financial Times, where he said the company hosted entirely AI-generated characters that post on Instagram and other platforms. These profiles “exist on our platforms, kind of in the same way that …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

The internet can't handle the United Healthcare CEO's alleged shooter being Italian

With the identity of the alleged United Healthcare shooter now revealed, the internet is turning to one of its favorite forms of discourse: Joking about Italians. The alleged shooter, identified as Luigi Mangione, was arrested in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania earlier today. Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

Alleged United Healthcare CEO shooter read numerous books about chronic back pain

Today, authorities announced they’d arrested a “strong person of interest” after a nearly week-long manhunt in the shooting death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thomspon. The New York Post confirmed the identity of Luigi Mangione, who was caught by police in Pennslyvania. According to the New York Times, police found …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

Muppets community drama captivates the internet after prominent fan page outed as serial harasser

The Muppet History Account, @HistoryMuppet, issued a public apology Monday after mounting harassment claims against the account’s creators took over the web.Despite the account’s wholesome intended nature, admins of the account have been accused of harassing and bullying other Muppet-themed accounts. The apology, which amassed over two million views, led …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

'Rock bottom': Matt Gaetz is dishing out career advice on Cameo—after nuking his own

After backing out of potentially serving in President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet, Matt Gaetz pivoted to Cameo, a website where celebrities are paid to make videos for fans. Gaetz joined the platform on Friday, a day after he withdrew his name from consideration to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general. …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

EXCLUSIVE: Non-profit Linda McMahon chaired once steered $1 million to Project 2025 'sister' organization

This week, President-elect Donald Trump picked Linda McMahon, a former WWE executive, as his Education Secretary. The Department of Education is one of the many cabinet-level government agencies that Project 2025, the ultra-conservative wish list put forth by the Heritage Foundation, wants to eliminate. While the Trump campaign denied links …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

Trump Jr.'s curious index finger moves at SpaceX launch sparks rampant speculation

A video of Donald Trump Jr. rubbing his gums with his index finger has people online wondering just, exactly, he might have been doing. Yesterday, Trump Jr. joined his father for SpaceX’s Starship rocket launch in Texas alongside Elon Musk.Following the event, the video surfaced online, showing Donald Trump Jr. …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

MAGA ditches 'left-wing psyop' fears about NFL after players break out Trump Y.M.C.A. dance

A celebration mimicking a dance by President-elect Donald Trump has spread across the NFL, with players performing it after touchdowns, sacks, and other big plays. It’s led to right-wing proclamations Trump saved sports from “wokeness” after his base ditched the league over the theory it was a psyop to elect …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

Biden's Amazonian press conference exit has people afraid he'll never be seen from again

The internet has been set alight thanks to a press conference yesterday by former President Joe Biden in the Amazon rainforest, with conservatives claiming he is being sent into the jungle so the deep state can begin World War Three. The claim comes as the Biden administration allowed Ukraine to …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

Former GOP congressman's $2.5 million GoFundMe trolled over his anti-Obamacare vote

Left-wing trolls bombarded a GoFundMe page for Michael Grimm, a former Republican congressman when he experienced a life-altering injury. In September, Grimm was paralyzed from the waist down after he was thrown from a horse during a polo tournament.A former Marine and FBI agent, the 54-year-old previously represented Staten Island …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

Marco Rubio cabinet nomination kickstarts unironic Hulk Hogan for Senate movement

With Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) expected to be named President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state, CNN’s Scott Jennings suggested an unconventional choice to take his place in the Senate. While on air Tuesday evening, the Republican commentator pitched WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan to replace the Florida senator. Delivering his pitch, …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

TextNow, app used to send racist post-election texts, faces complaints it enables stalking, harassment

In the immediate aftermath of the 2024 election, Black Americans received texts telling them it was time to “report” for slavery. The messages said recipients should “board a van” that would transport them to a “plantation” to work as slaves. Black men, women, and children in at least 14 states …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

Trump's last-minute ad blitz on X is literally unavoidable—as opt-out options doing nothing

In the run-up to Election Day, X users are reporting that a full-throated ad blitz from former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign is leaking through the site’s filters and opt-out mechanisms. Despite options to remove and mute ads from your feed, users say Trump’s last-minute push is still clearly visible. …
By Steven Monacelli
• The Daily Dot

EXCLUSIVE: Tina Forte, AOC's House challenger, sued after her pit bull attacked a neighbor's child

Tina Forte, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) Republican opponent for New York’s 14th District, is being sued for damages after her pit bull attacked her neighbor’s child. Plaintiffs allege that in February 2023, Forte’s dog, named Brownie, jumped the fence separating the properties in Nanuet, New York, and went after a …
By Hope Talbot
• The Daily Dot

Tenet Media reporter claimed YouTube banned him after indictment—but he deleted his own channel

Last week, the Department of Justice indicted two Russians for secretly funneling money to American right-wing video personalities. Shortly after, YouTube cracked down on the entity behind the scheme, Tenet Media, deleting its channel and four others run by owner Lauren Chen. The next day, Tayler Hansen, a reporter and …
By Steven Monacelli
• The Daily Dot