404 Media 🕸️

A tour of the outer solar system, from Pluto-Charon to Planet X, plus saber teeth and punky molluscs.

Amid a series of changes that allows users to target LGBTQ+ people, Meta has deleted product features it initially championed.

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss weird fake furniture and shared reality (or the lack thereof).

A hack of location data company Gravy Analytics has revealed which apps are—knowingly or not—being used to collect your information behind the scenes.

Meta's decision to specifically allow users to call LGBTQ+ people "mentally ill" has sparked widespread backlash at the company.

AI generated slop is tricking people into thinking an already devastating series of wildfires in Los Angeles are even worse than they are — and using it to score political points. 

The dystopia of Los Angeles' fires are horrifying, mundane, and everything in between.

Google's AI search feature is telling people searching for answers about using vibrating sex toys during pregnancy that they should consider it for counseling children, instead.

Instagram, Facebook, and Threads are removing 404 Media stories for “nudity” as the company is paid to put ads with explicit pornography in front of its users.

We're back after the holiday with a ton of stories. Meta, Pornhub, and FBI's witnesses are all in this episode.

Privacy advocate draws attention to the fact that hundreds of police surveillance cameras are streaming directly to the open internet.

"Insulting, criticizing, or antagonizing our colleagues or Board members is not aligned with the CEE."

Gravy Analytics has been one of the most important companies in the location data industry for years, collating smartphone location data from around the world selling some to the U.S. government. Hackers say they stole a mountain of data.

People are using AI video generator Runway to post extremely violent Minionfied videos to social media.

Meta AI put a Redditor into "an endless maze of mirrors" as part of a new AI feature it is testing.

The number of data requests fulfilled by Telegram skyrocketed, with the company providing data to U.S. authorities on 2,253 users last year.

Members of an underground criminal community are targeting U-Haul because of the wealth of non-public information it can hold on targets.

We begin 2025 with Amazonian garden cities, lost woods in the Rockies, battitude, and robot hoopers.

The Meta AI profiles everyone is mad about are old, were a colossal failure, and many are already dead.

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we talk more about magic links and building shelves offline. A light Behind the Blog today but we're back from the holiday on Monday.