Akhil Ranjan

#GIJC25 formally opens with keynote address by co-founder and CEO of Rappler, Nobel laureate #MariaResaa. Please say hello if you too are attending the conference. Thank you!

Just arrived at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre to attend #GIJC25. Looking forward to four days of learning, sharing, connecting, and catching up with fellow journalists from around the world. Please do say hello if you are around - would love to connect and catch up!

In Brazil, Agribusiness Giants Hire Celebrity Influencers to Win Hearts and Minds Doctors and models extol the virtues of meat as climate impacts of industrial farming face scrutiny at COP30 — the global climate summit.

🔴 NEW 🔴

In Brazil, Agribusiness Giants Hire Celebrity Influencers to Win Hearts and Minds

📝 @tjjordan.bsky.social @akhilr23.bsky.social @rachelsherrington.bsky.social @clarecarlile.bsky.social

Published in partnership with @apublica.org

www.desmog.com/2025/11/16/i...

Google reduces Political Ads Transparency tool to only 12 countries – none from the EU!

A Student's ChatGPT Prank Sent an Entire City Hunting for Phantom Leopards | BOOM AI tools that allow hyper-realistic edits showed leopards wandering in Lucknow's residential areas sending local police and forest department officials on a wild goose chase.

Amateur use of generative AI tools en masse and a lack of media literacy are creating unique problems and setting dangerous examples in India.
www.boomlive.in/decode/a-stu...

A delayed announcement, but happy to share that I've completed a Master’s in Investigative Journalism at City, University of London.

As I step into the job market afresh, I'd be grateful for any heads up about work opportunities where you think I’d be a good fit or leads on stories I can pursue 🙏

Alas… what a deplorable sight!

I worked with Twitter’s global disinformation team, and helped combat falsehood and hate-speech on the platform.

Hello Chris, I've just completed a master's in investigative journalism at City, University of London, and trying to step into freelancing. I would be grateful if you might spare some time for a chat, thank you!

#Serving

Another powerful performance by #MirianaConte of #Malta 🇲🇹

#Eurovision #Eurovision2025 #ESC2025

#RememberMonday

Sounds like a warning on a Saturday night...!!

#WhatTheHellJustHappened #UnitedKingdom #Eurovision #Eurovision2025 #ESC2025

#ExpressoMacchiato

What an addictive song, my favourite so far and I'm going to be hooked for a long time...!!

#Eurovision #Eurovision2025 #ESC2025 #TommyCash

🚨 #Misinformation on #OperationSindoor 5/n

At least two-month-old video of a massive explosion is being shared with false claim that it shows India's recent strike in Sialkot, #Pakistan.

🚨 #Misinformation on #OperationSindoor 4/n

"Fuelled by emotion, bias, prejudice, and hyper-patriotism, ordinary individuals have become unaware and misinformed foot soldiers in a digital war over social media platforms.
www.ptinews.com/fact-detail/...

🚨 #Misinformation on #OperationSindoor 3/n

A prominent Indian YouTuber shared a military simulation video, falsely claiming it to be actual footage of India’s #OperationSindoor in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

🚨 #Misinformation on #OperationSindoor 2/n

Indian politician Dr. Nishikant Dubey also fell for misinformation circulated by a Pakistani Twitter handle impersonating an Indian account.

🚨 #Misinformation on #OperationSindoor 1/n

Renowned Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir shared a four-year-old visual of a MiG-21 crash in India's Punjab as 'confirmation' of Pakistan’s claim of shooting down Indian fighter jets during the #OperationSindoor.

In addition to ordinary citizens, several media organisations, journalists, and politicians from both sides have been found sharing old and unrelated visuals, along with false or misleading claims about #OperationSindoor and its aftermath. Following are a few example...

#Misinformation is rife on social media as tensions escalate between India and Pakistan following Indian military's #OperationSindoor targeting "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan & Pakistan-administered Kashmir in retaliation of #PahalgamAttack on 22 April that killed 26 people, mostly tourists.

TikTok’s viral monks are clashing with Buddhist authorities Superstar monks have built massive followings — but dancing, singing, and fame-seeking are all violations of the monastic code.

An interesting read...!! #Cambodia #TikTok #MonkTok

Exploiting Meta’s Weaknesses, Deceptive Political Ads Thrived on Facebook and Instagram in Run-Up to Election Despite Meta's stated commitment to crack down on harmful content, it failed to catch tens of thousands of ads that used false claims and deepfakes of political figures to collect users’ sensitive per...

We uncovered more than 100k deceptive US election/social issues ads across +200 FB pages. The ads used deepfakes of Trump, Biden & others to make false claims about gov subsidies and to hawk Trump merch. Meta earned more than **$25 million** from the ads. Story: www.propublica.org/article/face...

Image of a Meta blog post with the headline, "What we saw on our platforms during 20214's global elections."

Meta released a review of activity on its platforms during an unprecedented year of elections. It covers a lot of ground but fails to address how Meta’s political ad system has been abused to scam and deceive people on a global scale during such a critical year for democracy. Here’s a rundown 🧵:

RT India Peddles Video Of Kali Idol Dismantling Tradition In WB As Vandalism | BOOM BOOM found that the video is from East Bardhaman district in West Bengal and there is no communal angle to the incident.

A group of right-wing media in India have been sharing old and unrelated visuals alongside claim they show atrocities against the Hindu community in wake of the current political unrest in Bangladesh. Here is a latest one joined by RT India, the Indian unit of Russian state controlled news media.

TrueMedia.org TrueMedia.org detects political deepfakes in social media. Non-profit, non-partisan, and free.

This #AI detection tool created by #TrueMedia intends to help by identifying signs of manipulated pictures and videos posted on social media.

Inside India's Child Modeling Scam Machine: It Starts With A Click | BOOM Starry-eyed parents wanting their kids to be the face of big brands are being scammed through a maze of Facebook ads, Telegram groups, scamsters sitting abroad and their money mules in India.

"It’s a web of digital fraud that has been systematically unraveling the dreams of hundreds of Indian parents."

India banned a Chinese app four years ago. Government agencies are still using it CamScanner was one of 59 Chinese apps the Indian government banned in 2020, amid a border conflict with China.

What an irony...!!

"The Election Commission is not the only Indian government-adjacent entity still using this banned scanning app. Rest of World found 30 other instances of documents uploaded by government departments and ministries that were scanned with CamScanner since the app was banned..."

Staged videos fuel religious hate and misogyny in India Scripted videos, apparently created for entertainment, are being shared to make them seem like real events.

A byline worth mention after a long time...!!

Dramatised videos, apparently created for entertainment & awareness, are widely being shared on social media as true events with false claims to stoke religious bigotry & misogyny in India. #FakeNews
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-66432198

Counting Russia's dead in Ukraine - and what it says about the changing face of the war - BBC News What we learned from counting the Russian dead

Counting Russia's dead in Ukraine... #UkraineWar

Wonderful example of investigative journalism & visual storytelling through online data collection & verification…!!

#Soho in London is brimming with #PrideEdition #EmojiShower… 💕