Michael Colborne
@colborne.bsky.social
@bellingcat.com journalist etc focused on the transnational far right. i give trainings. i take pictures of stickers. Signal: michaelcolborne.01
Pinned
Michael Colborne
@colborne.bsky.social
· Sep 15
Geolocating an Active Club 'Fight Night' in San Diego
An orange wall helped Bellingcat identify the location of an annual far-right event attended by neo-Nazis and white nationalists.
www.bellingcat.com
Pro tip: if you're trying to hide the location of your latest far-right 'fight night' all the blurring and and tight shots won't help you if you host it in a place with bright orange walls (and also lie to the owner about why you're renting the place)
www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/09...
www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/09...
Reposted by Michael Colborne
BREAKING: X’s chatbot Grok isn’t just making AI porn deepfakes, it’s now making Nazi AI porn deepfakes, undressing women and showing them wearing “swastika bikinis”. Many of these women are Jewish, including a recently deceased Holocaust survivor.
Elon Musk’s “Grok” is undressing women and showing them in swastika bikinis
One woman targeted is a Jewish Holocaust survivor
decoherence.media
January 7, 2026 at 7:27 AM
BREAKING: X’s chatbot Grok isn’t just making AI porn deepfakes, it’s now making Nazi AI porn deepfakes, undressing women and showing them wearing “swastika bikinis”. Many of these women are Jewish, including a recently deceased Holocaust survivor.
“dominant predator force” is certainly a choice of words a person can make
Ogles: "It's important that we have a stake in Greenland, that they are quite frankly a protectorate of the US. They've been in relationship with Denmark - that needs to end. We've spilled more blood protecting Greenland than the Danes... we are the dominant predator force in the Western Hemisphere"
January 7, 2026 at 2:23 PM
“dominant predator force” is certainly a choice of words a person can make
Reposted by Michael Colborne
kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life
January 6, 2026 at 2:00 AM
kind of darkly funny that "gender studies" is the stereotypical "useless degree" because gender studies will help you understand a large and important chunk of the current psychosis in american life
start off 2026 by reading about the most obnoxious hardcore subculture there ever was (or, one of?) - hardline!
My new, free access Patreon post is an overview of Hardline, based on Phoenix X Eeyore's "Total Revolution?" This bizarre micro-subculture promoted straight-edge, veganism, militant animal rights- & was anti-abortion & homophobic. Most fascinating book I read in 2025!
www.patreon.com/posts/147487...
www.patreon.com/posts/147487...
Shuddering at Hardline | Spencer Sunshine
Get more from Spencer Sunshine on Patreon
www.patreon.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:41 PM
start off 2026 by reading about the most obnoxious hardcore subculture there ever was (or, one of?) - hardline!
Reposted by Michael Colborne
🚨NEW PAPER
The Logic of Connective Faction:
How Digitally Networked Elites and Hyper-Partisan Media Radicalize Politics
w/ @yunkangyang.bsky.social & @mikecowburn.bsky.social
Online radicalization doesn't just affect the public.
It also reshapes how elites & parties behave. doi.org/10.1080/1058...
The Logic of Connective Faction:
How Digitally Networked Elites and Hyper-Partisan Media Radicalize Politics
w/ @yunkangyang.bsky.social & @mikecowburn.bsky.social
Online radicalization doesn't just affect the public.
It also reshapes how elites & parties behave. doi.org/10.1080/1058...
The Logic of Connective Faction: How Digitally Networked Elites and Hyper-Partisan Media Radicalize Politics
Across democratic systems, ideological cleavages increasingly emerge not only between but also within political parties. At the same time, hyperpartisan and digitally networked media ecosystems amp...
doi.org
January 5, 2026 at 8:36 AM
🚨NEW PAPER
The Logic of Connective Faction:
How Digitally Networked Elites and Hyper-Partisan Media Radicalize Politics
w/ @yunkangyang.bsky.social & @mikecowburn.bsky.social
Online radicalization doesn't just affect the public.
It also reshapes how elites & parties behave. doi.org/10.1080/1058...
The Logic of Connective Faction:
How Digitally Networked Elites and Hyper-Partisan Media Radicalize Politics
w/ @yunkangyang.bsky.social & @mikecowburn.bsky.social
Online radicalization doesn't just affect the public.
It also reshapes how elites & parties behave. doi.org/10.1080/1058...
Reposted by Michael Colborne
Hello again, algorithm. Just published in JDSR: My new article explores how social media shape far-right and liberal fantasies of security, belonging, and “love” through affect and algorithmic power. Thanks to WASP-HS & @pledge-project.bsky.social for their support.
publicera.kb.se/jdsr/article...
publicera.kb.se/jdsr/article...
January 5, 2026 at 11:17 AM
Hello again, algorithm. Just published in JDSR: My new article explores how social media shape far-right and liberal fantasies of security, belonging, and “love” through affect and algorithmic power. Thanks to WASP-HS & @pledge-project.bsky.social for their support.
publicera.kb.se/jdsr/article...
publicera.kb.se/jdsr/article...
Reposted by Michael Colborne
From repurposed footage filmed years ago in different parts of the world, to AI images and videos of Maduro's arrest, social media platforms like X, Instagram and TikTok were flooded with disinformation within minutes of America's assault on #Venezuela
www.wired.com/story/disinf...
www.wired.com/story/disinf...
Disinformation Floods Social Media After Nicolás Maduro's Capture
From seemingly AI-generated videos to the recirculation of old footage, TikTok, Instagram, and X did little to stop the onslaught of misleading posts in the wake of the US invasion of Venezuela.
www.wired.com
January 3, 2026 at 6:27 PM
From repurposed footage filmed years ago in different parts of the world, to AI images and videos of Maduro's arrest, social media platforms like X, Instagram and TikTok were flooded with disinformation within minutes of America's assault on #Venezuela
www.wired.com/story/disinf...
www.wired.com/story/disinf...
Reposted by Michael Colborne
At this point there is enough material for five doctoral dissertations on how these guys willfully misinterpret music
Trump posts footage of the Maduro raid set to "Fortunate Son" -- a protest song about the Vietnam War draft
January 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
At this point there is enough material for five doctoral dissertations on how these guys willfully misinterpret music
Reposted by Michael Colborne
Neben lauter nicht konsensualer Sexualisierung von Frauen und deutlich minderjährigen Mädchen(!) in Bikinis, erstellt Grok derzeit auch gerne Hakenkreuze für Nazis. Das ist doch nicht von § 86a Abs. 3 StGB gedeckt, wie ist das rechtlich eigentlich geregelt?
January 3, 2026 at 9:38 AM
Neben lauter nicht konsensualer Sexualisierung von Frauen und deutlich minderjährigen Mädchen(!) in Bikinis, erstellt Grok derzeit auch gerne Hakenkreuze für Nazis. Das ist doch nicht von § 86a Abs. 3 StGB gedeckt, wie ist das rechtlich eigentlich geregelt?
“Where the real world changes into simple images, the simple images become real beings and effective motivations of hypnotic behavior.”
Trump to Fox & Friends on the raid that captured Maduro: "I mean, I watched it literally l like I was watching a television show. If you would've seen the speed, the violence -- it was an amazing thing."
January 3, 2026 at 2:47 PM
“Where the real world changes into simple images, the simple images become real beings and effective motivations of hypnotic behavior.”
Reposted by Michael Colborne
The Bellingcat Discord community is currently discussing events in Venezuela and digging up lots of stuff here
discord.com/channels/709...
discord.com/channels/709...
Discord - Group Chat That’s All Fun & Games
Discord is great for playing games and chilling with friends, or even building a worldwide community. Customize your own space to talk, play, and hang out.
discord.com
January 3, 2026 at 2:26 PM
The Bellingcat Discord community is currently discussing events in Venezuela and digging up lots of stuff here
discord.com/channels/709...
discord.com/channels/709...
i guess this is the year we start completely anthropomorphizing and attributing communicative intent to rich guys’ AI chatbots
January 2, 2026 at 8:36 PM
i guess this is the year we start completely anthropomorphizing and attributing communicative intent to rich guys’ AI chatbots
Reposted by Michael Colborne
Every time I think about this, I wish Walter Benjamin were here to comment on it. Even less tethered to reality than a Leni Riefenstahl film. Images scrambled into code and reassembled in the techno-oligarchic Traumkitschfabrik.
It’s quite telling that so many right-wing dealers in nostalgia are embracing the aesthetics of modern AI-generated art. Can’t actually find real images of the imagined past to which you want us to return? No problem; just generate it with AI.
January 2, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Every time I think about this, I wish Walter Benjamin were here to comment on it. Even less tethered to reality than a Leni Riefenstahl film. Images scrambled into code and reassembled in the techno-oligarchic Traumkitschfabrik.
Oh, well turns out Denis Kapustin is alive and it was a special operation all along
January 1, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Oh, well turns out Denis Kapustin is alive and it was a special operation all along
Reposted by Michael Colborne
"Beforehand, according to an American official present, Mr. Hegseth dabbed his nose with powder from a small compact. 'Look commanding,' he told one aide. The handshake with the Ukrainian might be shown on Fox; the president might be watching." (Gift link)
The Separation: Inside the Unraveling U.S.-Ukraine Partnership
As President Trump sought a peace deal and Vladimir V. Putin sought victory, factions in the White House and Pentagon bled the Ukrainian war effort.
www.nytimes.com
December 31, 2025 at 7:48 PM
"Beforehand, according to an American official present, Mr. Hegseth dabbed his nose with powder from a small compact. 'Look commanding,' he told one aide. The handshake with the Ukrainian might be shown on Fox; the president might be watching." (Gift link)
Reposted by Michael Colborne
Decades of the white nationalist movement evolving to adapt to current political trends has brought them to this moment.
December 30, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Decades of the white nationalist movement evolving to adapt to current political trends has brought them to this moment.
Victimizers + wannabe victimizers, whether far right or some other variety of sparkling wine on the fascism-as-champagne spectrum, always have to centre themselves as the victims in their own narrative: a constant projection of strength and power while whining about being the ‘real’ victim
putin’s notion that we are a great powerful civilization but also we are constantly helplessly victimized by the west -- it’s the same combination of entitlement plus victimhood that you find in the US far-right. No wonder they like him
December 30, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Victimizers + wannabe victimizers, whether far right or some other variety of sparkling wine on the fascism-as-champagne spectrum, always have to centre themselves as the victims in their own narrative: a constant projection of strength and power while whining about being the ‘real’ victim
Reposted by Michael Colborne
putin’s notion that we are a great powerful civilization but also we are constantly helplessly victimized by the west -- it’s the same combination of entitlement plus victimhood that you find in the US far-right. No wonder they like him
December 30, 2025 at 4:22 PM
putin’s notion that we are a great powerful civilization but also we are constantly helplessly victimized by the west -- it’s the same combination of entitlement plus victimhood that you find in the US far-right. No wonder they like him
Reposted by Michael Colborne
Saw Bluesky described as where elder millennials go to retire from the internet, and immediately felt the peace that passes all understanding wash over me. None of have to struggle any longer. We completed our time.
December 29, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Saw Bluesky described as where elder millennials go to retire from the internet, and immediately felt the peace that passes all understanding wash over me. None of have to struggle any longer. We completed our time.
Reposted by Michael Colborne
Articles about Brigitte Bardot after her death on Sunday have referred to her far right sympathies, which supposedly emerged later in the film star's life. Here she is, though, in 1958 with Jean-Marie Le Pen and Pierre Lagaillarde, future founder of the extremist OAS terror group
December 29, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Articles about Brigitte Bardot after her death on Sunday have referred to her far right sympathies, which supposedly emerged later in the film star's life. Here she is, though, in 1958 with Jean-Marie Le Pen and Pierre Lagaillarde, future founder of the extremist OAS terror group
Reposted by Michael Colborne
Seven men who were violently arrested and injured by NSW police on suspicion of planning an "Islamist terror attack" near Bondi Beach have been released without charges.
No terror links were found, the men were traveling on holiday to their Airbnb.
No terror links were found, the men were traveling on holiday to their Airbnb.
‘We did nothing wrong’: seven men released from custody in Sydney deny Islamist links
After being held for 24 hours, the men say they had been driving to a holiday rental when they were detained by police
www.theguardian.com
December 29, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Seven men who were violently arrested and injured by NSW police on suspicion of planning an "Islamist terror attack" near Bondi Beach have been released without charges.
No terror links were found, the men were traveling on holiday to their Airbnb.
No terror links were found, the men were traveling on holiday to their Airbnb.
Reposted by Michael Colborne
Aristocrate descendante de l'élite nazie et de Karl Marx, proche des extrêmes droites américaines, la vice-présidente de l’AfD a publié sa stratégie : gagner le Kulturkampf afin de rendre acceptable un programme extrême.
L'Avent de l'interrègne 6/8.
legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2025/12/2...
L'Avent de l'interrègne 6/8.
legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2025/12/2...
Beatrix von Storch : la stratège de l’AfD qui veut prendre l’Allemagne
Aristocrate descendante de hauts dignitaires nazis, proche des extrêmes droites américaines — de Bannon à Kast —, la vice-présidente de l’AfD a publié sa stratégie pour briser le cordon sanitaire en A...
legrandcontinent.eu
December 22, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Aristocrate descendante de l'élite nazie et de Karl Marx, proche des extrêmes droites américaines, la vice-présidente de l’AfD a publié sa stratégie : gagner le Kulturkampf afin de rendre acceptable un programme extrême.
L'Avent de l'interrègne 6/8.
legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2025/12/2...
L'Avent de l'interrègne 6/8.
legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2025/12/2...
“Convicted five times for inciting racial hatred, Bardot remained, for three decades, an exception in French culture – the only celebrity to openly defend the far right. In the 1990s…the star adopted those views and married…[an] adviser to Jean-Marie Le Pen”
www.lemonde.fr/en/obituarie...
www.lemonde.fr/en/obituarie...
December 28, 2025 at 5:11 PM
“Convicted five times for inciting racial hatred, Bardot remained, for three decades, an exception in French culture – the only celebrity to openly defend the far right. In the 1990s…the star adopted those views and married…[an] adviser to Jean-Marie Le Pen”
www.lemonde.fr/en/obituarie...
www.lemonde.fr/en/obituarie...
Reposted by Michael Colborne
Worth noting, before the misty-eyed tributes begin, that Brigitte Bardot was handed six fines for “inciting racial hatred,” opposed to MeToo-era reporting on sexual assault and publicly endorsed far-right leaders in France.
December 28, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Worth noting, before the misty-eyed tributes begin, that Brigitte Bardot was handed six fines for “inciting racial hatred,” opposed to MeToo-era reporting on sexual assault and publicly endorsed far-right leaders in France.
no
Could AI relationships actually be good for us?
Could AI relationships actually be good for us?
From companionship to psychotherapy, technology could meet unmet needs – but it needs to be handled responsibly
www.theguardian.com
December 28, 2025 at 1:13 PM
no