The "Epstein Files" have generated immense public interest, making them a ripe subject for bad actors looking to push lies.
We examined how AI-generated images were used to supercharge viral false claims, inspiring offline activity and hostile state actors.
openmeasures.io/ai-images-ep...
An article claiming US troops were told the Iran War is meant "to cause Armageddon" and usher in a return of Jesus Christ made waves on Bluesky yesterday. We saw at least 2,250 posts that repeated its core claims.
The story could be legit, but this article raises some reasons to be skeptical.
Jack Posobiec, Jan 28. 2024: Nikki Haley is now calling for full war with Iran This isn't vague She is the WW3 candidate, she stating it openly
Wesley Hunt, Oct. 1 2024: "FLASHBACK: 2020 Joe Biden claimed President Trump will get us into a war with Iran. Do you think this aged well?"
Cory Mills, Feb. 2 2024: "We must get President Trump back in the White House in 2024. Biden is driving us to WWIII and full regional destabilization. Under Trump we had adversaries at bay, allies strengthened, Abram Accords pushing towards Middle East stability, Israel safe, Russia not advancing in Ukraine, crippling sanctions against Iran, elimination of Abu Bakr (ISIS), Qasim Solamani (Quds Force), and Abu Mehdi (Iraq militia leader), shipping lanes clear of Houthi attacks/ disruption, China was not threatening Taiwan. The border was secured. America and the world was safer!"
Kari Lake, Jan. 28 2024: "Last night, three American service members were killed in a drone attack by Iranian forces. My heart and deepest condolences go out to their families. This is a consequence of the current Administration destabilizing the Middle East. President Trump proposed peace through strength and was working to bring peace to the Middle East and beyond. We must return to that peace through strength."
We checked back in our datasets to see what some of the most-popular Truth Social posts discussing US military conflict with Iran were like when Trump was running for president in 2024.
The tone sure has changed over there in the last few days.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have been trying to pass election laws that experts warn would disenfranchise millions of Americans. But as their flagship bill stalls in the Senate, pro-Trump communities are fuming at top GOP leaders
openmeasures.io/save-act-mag...
Some Team USA athletes at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games have voiced concerns over the state of American politics, particularly concerning ICE and immigration issues. They've since faced waves of online hate and abuse.
Our researchers looked into how bad it's been:
openmeasures.io/us-olympians...
A great guide to digital security from the team over at WIRED, shared at a time where far-right influencers and federal law enforcement officials have discussed ramping up surveillance projects and criminal investigations of lawful anti-ICE organizers
openmeasures.io/alex-pretti-...
After Trump shared a racist video depicting the Obamas, his administration boost a post from the White Papers Policy Institute, who promotes “remigration,” an ethnic cleansing agenda currently enacted. WPPI also appeared at the 2025 “Remigration Summit” alongside figures tied to Europe’s far right.
collage of follow order by creation date plots for 27 Bluesky accounts associated with tech reporters and media
Over the last three months, 27 Bluesky accounts belonging to tech reporters and news outlets experienced a rapid uptick in follows from newly-created accounts. While it is not unusual for new Bluesky users to follow journalists and media outlets, this sudden large increase is anomalous.
Senior researcher @jaredlholt.bsky.social spoke to @kattenbarge.bsky.social about Jeffrey Epstein's apparent fascination with 4chan and racist pseudoscience, sharing thoughts on what the latest batch of "Epstein Files" do and don't tell us about Epstein's relationship to the online far-right
A pie chart shows the type of Truth Social accounts behind the 619 posts that were re-shared 500+ on the platform last week. More than half were from accounts used by US government officials.
Of the posts that were re-shared 500+ times on Truth Social last week, more than half came from Republican government officials. The second-biggest share came from self-styled MAGA influencers, followed by conservative media outlets and random users whose posts were shared by larger accounts.
A bar chart lists the 10 Truth Social accounts who had the highest number of posts shared 500+ times last week. President Trump is at the top, with 206 posts, followed by the anti-LGBTQ+ influencer Libs of TikTok.
It's no surprise that President Trump's posts consistently perform well on Truth Social. He owns the platform. But who else sees heavy engagement on the site?
Our researchers found 619 posts that were re-shared 500+ times in the last week. Second behind Trump? Anti-LGBTQ+ account Libs of TikTok.
If you only read one Nick Shirley story this week ... well you probably already did because the Times published one Tuesday. But if you read two (and you should) I spoke with @jaredlholt.bsky.social about San Diego being his next target:
www.kpbs.org/news/local/2...
We pulled these examples using our platform's "Discover" tool and blurred the accounts' usernames before posting. You can learn more about our platform here: openmeasures.io/platform
Truth Social post: "Everyone finally realizing how bad Epstein really is. Remember when they told you that a cult of satanic pedophiles ruling the world was just a ‘Qanon’ pizzagate conspiracy theory? Not so crazy now is it? It was always real."
Telegram post: "Bill Maher says QAnon may deserve an APOLOGY, admits they were 'not totally wrong' about 'elites running this p--phile ring.' 'I can't believe I'm saying this, but where does QAnon go for the apology?'"
Telegram post: "Tucker Carlson: What we’re witnessing in the Epstein Files is reminiscent of the wild conspiracy theory PizzaGate, thought up by the “QAnon Retards” on the Internet… turns out, maybe someone should actually look into this. It only took 10 years… but the conversation has finally arrived."
Truth Social post: "Who remembers back in July 2020 when it was found that human/child trafficking was happening using extremely over priced items on Wayfair as a cover? It was a CRAZY “Pizzagate/QAnon conspiracy”, remember? Welp as it turns out, us “crazy conspiracy theorists” were RIGHT, yet again…"
Since the DOJ published the latest batch of Epstein Files, social media figures who built audiences promoting QAnon, Pizzagate, and similar conspiracy theories have claimed validation, rehashing many older claims.
Many were also excited by Tucker Carlson and Bill Maher's recent remarks about them.
TPUSA's "All-American Halftime Show" captured the attention of right-wing audiences during Super Bowl LX, but not because of who performed. We found that prominent right-wing communities talked about Bad Bunny more than any of the artists on TPUSA's lineup.
openmeasures.io/bad-bunny-ha...
Anti-abortion activists have grown their recruitment and propaganda efforts on TikTok in recent years, our latest analysis found. Feeling empowered by the Trump Administration, many are taking sharper aim at abortion clinics.
openmeasures.io/anti-abortio...
Timeline chart from the Open Measures platform shows mentions of prominent figures named in posts discussing Jeffrey Epstein on 4chan from Jan. 29 to Feb. 6, 2025. Users showed initial interest in a handful of powerful figures named in the latest release of Epstein Files, but sustained interest in Epstein's alleged relationships to Donald Trump and the Israeli government.
4chan users posted about Jeffrey Epstein ~40k times since the DOJ released more "Epstein Files" last week. We searched our records to see who they fixated on most.
A handful of figures (including the site's founder) drew some initial interest, but two associations really stuck: Trump and Israel.
One of our customers works to track threats related to elections. They recently told us that our platform helped them respond to a plotted attack meant to undermine the integrity of an election. With that knowledge, they acted and successfully stopped it.
openmeasures.io/open-measure...
This month we unveiled new product features and published research pieces related to the ICE killings in Minnesota, the election denialist movement in Michigan, and the US military raid in Venezuela. Check it all out in this month's "ICYMI" newsletter.
openmeasures.substack.com/p/icymi-janu...
![As progressive users increasingly see TikTok as biased, new platforms are capitalizing on the political defections, though that might not be a lasting strategy.
“If it’s exclusively a culture war play, then [there’s] only one type of user you’re going to get, and there’s going to be a ceiling to user adoption” for alternative platforms, said Hank Teran, CEO of the social intelligence and research platform Open Measures.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fjy6irjcf5ppn6baxxr54sad/bafkreih5m55drcfmc6e4ayv5x2yup6yxagolwwwnmogvmtyodq2sr6gtve@jpeg)
As progressive users increasingly see TikTok as biased, new platforms are capitalizing on the political defections, though that might not be a lasting strategy. “If it’s exclusively a culture war play, then [there’s] only one type of user you’re going to get, and there’s going to be a ceiling to user adoption” for alternative platforms, said Hank Teran, CEO of the social intelligence and research platform Open Measures.
![Yet there are some advantages that UpScrolled and Bluesky may have over their right-leaning predecessors in the alternative platform space. For one, a lot of “free speech” sites like Parler and Gab became drenched in Nazi and QAnon content that was offputting for more moderate conservatives.
“[If] there are no rules in place, you can get to this point of absolutism that makes for an unenjoyable experience on the platform,” said Teran.
Teran also said that Bluesky and Upscrolled seem intent on offering a better user experience, rather than just creating a new home for ideologues. Not only do they ward off viscerally upsetting content, but they’ve also made privacy and transparency a selling point.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fjy6irjcf5ppn6baxxr54sad/bafkreia7b6oow76zzf27ksrhkchkj4duwn22rk643bcw6h2qvl4bwabr2u@jpeg)
Yet there are some advantages that UpScrolled and Bluesky may have over their right-leaning predecessors in the alternative platform space. For one, a lot of “free speech” sites like Parler and Gab became drenched in Nazi and QAnon content that was offputting for more moderate conservatives. “[If] there are no rules in place, you can get to this point of absolutism that makes for an unenjoyable experience on the platform,” said Teran. Teran also said that Bluesky and Upscrolled seem intent on offering a better user experience, rather than just creating a new home for ideologues. Not only do they ward off viscerally upsetting content, but they’ve also made privacy and transparency a selling point.
We've spent years following alternative social platforms. Hank Teran, our CEO, shared some thoughts with Politico about the rise of platforms like Bluesky and UpScrolled, which have drawn waves of new users frustrated with the politics of mainstream platforms.
www.politico.com/newsletters/...
Quick reminder that we have a free newsletter. You can sign up here and get our latest research reports in your inbox:
blog.openmeasures.io
NEW: Hours after federal officers killed Alex Pretti, MAGA media redirected their audiences to focus on Signal chat groups used by community organizers in Minneapolis.
It's the latest in a series of efforts to portray anti-ICE organizing with "antifa."
openmeasures.io/alex-pretti-...
We're constantly updating and improving the Open Measures platform. Today we're announcing two big updates:
-Users can now save search queries for future use
-Users can now create custom labels for users, contexts, and more
We also beefed up our Timeline tool!
openmeasures.io/saved-querie...
(Keep your eyes peeled -- we've got a longer report about this in the works.)
Timeline chart shows number of daily posts across seven alt-platforms popular with right-wing communities that mentioned "antifa," radicalism, or terrorism while discussing Minnesota from Dec. 28 to Jan. 27. The chart shows its two largest spikes on the days federal officers killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
After federal officers killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, right-wing media reinvigorated dubious claims associating anti-ICE organizing with left-wing domestic terrorism. Across 7 platforms, we saw those narratives spike after officers killed Good, and against after they killed Pretti
This post was cited in a NYT story about Trump Administration social media posts echoing white supremacist propaganda
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...
Election denialists have spent years trying to undermine public trust in Michigan's election officials, ballot-counting processes, and voting infrastructure. With 2026 midterms on the horizon, our researchers examined what they got up to last year.
Our latest:
openmeasures.io/michigan-ele...
Great reporting from @hannahgais.bsky.social that includes some of our archival data from Telegram
This thread was made from data available in Open Measures' research platform. If you think you could benefit from tools like ours, drop us a line to schedule a demo
openmeasures.io
Post from Clandestine on Truth Social: "There’s the magic word again 👀Trump says that “insurrectionists” are burning Portland to the ground. This is not an accident. Trump and his administration are beginning to use this word frequently for a reason. The Insurrection Act is coming."
Spike 3: ~Oct. 7, 2025
As anti-ICE protests grow and several states sue to block the deployment of National Guard units in major cities, Trump again threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act. The most re-shared post from that period was from conspiracy theorist "Clandestine" (Jacob Creech).
