Drone Strikes Didn't Take Out a Russian Bot Farm, But We Were Primed to Believe It A viral rumor illustrates people's hunger to make sense of the division we see online. Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to journalists after meeting with the German chancellor in Kyiv on October 4. Volodymyr Tarasov/Ukrinform/Zuma Get your news from a source that's not owned and controlled by oligarchs. On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that a Ukrainian bombing strike on Yandex's data centers, a large Russian technology company, had led to a sudden decrease in bot activity online. "When our strikes reached Yandex's data centers, it suddenly became a little easier to breathe on many social media platforms," Zelenskyy declared, speaking at the opening of the Warsaw Security Forum. There was, he added, "less hate, less division, and fewer provocations because there were fewer bots. And it's pretty clear where those bots were coming from."

PM says it is'clear' Russia interfered with Brexit vote Andy Burnham has said Russia did interfere with the Brexit referendum and warned that similar activities were taking place in France and Germany. The prime minister told The Rest is Politics podcast, external that upon arriving in No 10, he had asked about possible Russian interference in the 2016 vote, adding: I've had the clear answer that, yes, there was. I think we've been too much on the back foot on that actually and we haven't informed people sufficiently about the extent to which people are seeking to disrupt the political process from overseas, he added. Burnham did not provide further details about the type or extent of Moscow's activity during the Brexit referendum. Britain Unbound, a pro-Brexit campaign group, said Burnham's comments were another crude attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the decision that the British people made in 2016.

As AI images become common, the threat to elections draws alarm: 'How will voters know what's true?' An image of College Park, Georgia mayor Bianca Motley Broom kissing a man - who was not her husband - in a bar spread far and wide on Facebook. The fact that it's fake is spreading faster, now, but only after it had been seen by thousands of people. "I think this is a sad commentary about where we are in our democracy, and where we are in our political discourse," Motley Broom said. "It also seeks to reinforce really tired stereotypes about women in leadership."

Charlie Kirk Was Shot a Year Ago. Experts say conspiracy theorizing about the identity and motive of Charlie Kirk's killer will likely continue for a long time to come. In the days after the assassination of conservative activist and Turning Point cofounder Charlie Kirk, the online reaction was a mess. Graphic videos of the shooting were everywhere within minutes of his death, far-right figures called for violence and vengeance, and right-wing lawmakers and influencers called for the cancellation --and worse--of anyone celebrating. Then, the conspiracy theories began .

From threats to the safety of poll workers to voters who can't distinguish between odds and results, prediction markets are already scrambling the political process. When Jim Allen, the elections director for Delaware County, Pennsylvania, recently ran a training session for poll workers, he began a conversation about a topic he'd never previously had to address during training: prediction markets . "There was one person who stood up, and they said, 'Well, what if we just want to make a minor bet on what turnout will be, that'll keep things interesting?' And we said: 'No, this is all bad,'" Allen, who oversees 383 precincts, recounts. As a result, Allen and the board of elections in Delaware County amended the oaths signed by people involved in elections to include "an affirmation that the workers have no direct or indirect interests in any bets, wagers, or prediction markets."

"Mike Benz just revealed everything," the user wrote, including "how'democracy' was redefined to silence you." This marked the first time Musk, newly installed at DOGE, had posted specifically about USAID. But Benz and Musk were already acquainted. The two had exchanged tweets and threads about censorship and other conspiracy theories for years. Only a few weeks after Benz's Rogan appearance, Musk was using the "censorship-industrial complex" language directly--and USAID was on life support.

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ChatGPT cited Grokipedia when repeating information that the Guardian has debunked. ChatGPT cited Grokipedia when repeating information that the Guardian has debunked. Guardian found OpenAI's platform cited Grokipedia on topics including Iran and Holocaust deniers The latest model of ChatGPT has begun to cite Elon Musk's Grokipedia as a source on a wide range of queries, including on Iranian conglomerates and Holocaust deniers, raising concerns about misinformation on the platform. In tests done by the Guardian, GPT-5.2 cited Grokipedia nine times in response to more than a dozen different questions. These included queries on political structures in Iran, such as salaries of the Basij paramilitary force and the ownership of the Mostazafan Foundation, and questions on the biography of Sir Richard Evans, a British historian and expert witness against Holocaust denier David Irving in his libel trial.

Children will be taught how to budget and how mortgages work as the government seeks to modernise the national curriculum in England's schools. They will also be taught how to spot fake news and disinformation, including AI-generated content, following the first review of what is taught in schools in over a decade. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the government wanted to revitalise the curriculum but keep a firm foundation in basics like English, maths and reading. Head teachers said the review's recommendations were sensible but would require sufficient funding and teachers. The government commissioned a review of the national curriculum and assessments in England last year, in the hope of developing a cutting edge curriculum that would narrow attainment gaps between the most disadvantaged students and their classmates.

No, SNAP Benefits Aren't Mostly Used by Immigrants SNAP benefits are set to run out on Saturday. Far-right influencers and extremists are incorrectly claiming that immigrants are the main recipients of food stamps. A shopper carries a basket inside a grocery store in the Bronx borough of New York City on Oct. 24, 2025. As roughly 42 million Americans face the loss of food stamps this weekend, far-right influencers, extremists, and conspiracy theorists are using the crisis to push racist disinformation about who receives these benefits. As a result of the government shutdown, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will not be funded as of November 1, according to a message on the website of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers the program.