Joseph Menn
@joemenn.bsky.social
Washington Post reporter covering hacking, disinformation and what’s left of privacy. Author of books on the Cult of the Dead Cow, organized criminal hacking, and Napster. Pulitzer co-finalist 2024. Signal joemenn.01
Pinned
Better picture. Sorry for the redundancy, this is a big day for me.
Reposted by Joseph Menn
Using imagery online of the shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, we’ve created an animated sequence which highlights the approximate positioning of officers and vehicles at the scene. The red dot represents the agent who fired the shots. Yellow dots are other agents who arrived at the scene.
January 7, 2026 at 10:33 PM
Using imagery online of the shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, we’ve created an animated sequence which highlights the approximate positioning of officers and vehicles at the scene. The red dot represents the agent who fired the shots. Yellow dots are other agents who arrived at the scene.
Reposted by Joseph Menn
NEW: Second video shows ICE shooting in Minneapolis. A woman, a U.S. citizen, was killed
January 7, 2026 at 6:19 PM
NEW: Second video shows ICE shooting in Minneapolis. A woman, a U.S. citizen, was killed
Honestly would have read this just for the Walter Pincus byline. www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...
Aldrich Ames, most damaging CIA traitor in agency history, dies at 84
He reportedly caused the deaths of at least 10 recruited CIA or allied intelligence agents.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 7, 2026 at 12:39 AM
Honestly would have read this just for the Walter Pincus byline. www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...
Reposted by Joseph Menn
I just counted more than 20 posts asking Grok to put various women, many of whom are Jewish, in a "swastika bikini"
January 7, 2026 at 12:07 AM
I just counted more than 20 posts asking Grok to put various women, many of whom are Jewish, in a "swastika bikini"
Reposted by Joseph Menn
A lot of attention rightfully being focused on sexually charged images of children and women, but Grok is also being used to bloody up images of women, for example by adding bruises, cuts, or burns. Like non-consensual sexual imagery, these violent "morphs" can be threatening.
January 6, 2026 at 8:34 PM
A lot of attention rightfully being focused on sexually charged images of children and women, but Grok is also being used to bloody up images of women, for example by adding bruises, cuts, or burns. Like non-consensual sexual imagery, these violent "morphs" can be threatening.
The biggest benefit from artificial intelligence so far is people talking a lot less about the blockchain.
January 6, 2026 at 8:23 PM
The biggest benefit from artificial intelligence so far is people talking a lot less about the blockchain.
Reposted by Joseph Menn
Editor’s note: No one believes it because he made it up
Trump: "Transgender for everyone! Bring your kids in, we're gonna change the sex of your child. Just send them our way. In some cases, like in Minnesota, they don't even tell the parents. Nobody believes it when I say it. They operate on the kid, they don't tell the parents. It's not believable."
January 6, 2026 at 5:20 PM
Editor’s note: No one believes it because he made it up
Reposted by Joseph Menn
I just want people to remember that what this was was transparently obvious at the time and universally condemned. Hold on to that fact and don't let people change it under you.
January 6, 2026 at 7:17 AM
I just want people to remember that what this was was transparently obvious at the time and universally condemned. Hold on to that fact and don't let people change it under you.
Reposted by Joseph Menn
A hacker known as Martha Root broke in and deleted three white supremacists websites at the end of a talk during the annual hacker conference Chaos Communication Congress in Germany.
Hacktivist deletes white supremacist websites live on stage during hacker conference | TechCrunch
A hacker known as Martha Root broke in and deleted three white supremacists websites at the end of a talk during the annual hacker conference Chaos Communication Congress in Germany.
techcrunch.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:58 PM
A hacker known as Martha Root broke in and deleted three white supremacists websites at the end of a talk during the annual hacker conference Chaos Communication Congress in Germany.
Reposted by Joseph Menn
WH sources say Venezuela's opposition leader committed the "ultimate sin": She accepted the Nobel Peace prize.
“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
January 5, 2026 at 3:02 AM
WH sources say Venezuela's opposition leader committed the "ultimate sin": She accepted the Nobel Peace prize.
“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
(Reposted to add the screenshot that inspired me)
January 3, 2026 at 12:13 AM
(Reposted to add the screenshot that inspired me)
I will give CBS this much: It takes some balls as a news organization in this era to call out the big problem as too much expertise.
January 3, 2026 at 12:12 AM
I will give CBS this much: It takes some balls as a news organization in this era to call out the big problem as too much expertise.
I will give CBS this much: It takes some balls as a news organization in this era to call out the big problem as too much expertise.
January 3, 2026 at 12:09 AM
I will give CBS this much: It takes some balls as a news organization in this era to call out the big problem as too much expertise.
Reposted by Joseph Menn
"There is no reckoning with whether a ceasefire that permits one side to continue killing can be called a ceasefire at all."
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
January 2, 2026 at 8:38 PM
"There is no reckoning with whether a ceasefire that permits one side to continue killing can be called a ceasefire at all."
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
Reposted by Joseph Menn
just gonna drop some links to a few papers of mine about AI-CSAM and the law here, for no particular reason
cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/news/ai-csam... (May 2025)
partnershiponai.org/hai-research... (November 2024)
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/addr... (February 2024)
cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/news/ai-csam... (May 2025)
partnershiponai.org/hai-research... (November 2024)
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/addr... (February 2024)
January 2, 2026 at 7:49 PM
just gonna drop some links to a few papers of mine about AI-CSAM and the law here, for no particular reason
cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/news/ai-csam... (May 2025)
partnershiponai.org/hai-research... (November 2024)
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/addr... (February 2024)
cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/news/ai-csam... (May 2025)
partnershiponai.org/hai-research... (November 2024)
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/addr... (February 2024)
Reposted by Joseph Menn
I reviewed a very good book, and got some thoughts out of my system. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/b...
January 2, 2026 at 5:24 PM
I reviewed a very good book, and got some thoughts out of my system. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/b...
Reposted by Joseph Menn
Exclusive: ICE officials plan to spend $100 million in one year to recruit gun-rights supporters and military enthusiasts through online influencers and a geo-targeted advertising campaign, according to an internal document reviewed by The Post. https://wapo.st/494l0Q8
January 2, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Exclusive: ICE officials plan to spend $100 million in one year to recruit gun-rights supporters and military enthusiasts through online influencers and a geo-targeted advertising campaign, according to an internal document reviewed by The Post. https://wapo.st/494l0Q8
Hopefully she is not a means to hack you, Matt.
January 1, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Hopefully she is not a means to hack you, Matt.
Happy birthday to all my friends in cybersecurity!
January 1, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Happy birthday to all my friends in cybersecurity!
It’s always the one that got away.
January 1, 2026 at 5:55 AM
It’s always the one that got away.
Reposted by Joseph Menn
5 million-plus kindergartners now live in counties where schools don’t have “herd immunity” for measles, Washington Post reporters found.
WaPo also built a tool to look up your own county.
Exceptional, and alarming work by @laurenweberhp.bsky.social @caitlingilbert.bsky.social et al.
(Gift link.)
WaPo also built a tool to look up your own county.
Exceptional, and alarming work by @laurenweberhp.bsky.social @caitlingilbert.bsky.social et al.
(Gift link.)
U.S. vaccination rates are plunging. Look up where your school stands.
Take a look to see what the kindergarten measles vaccination rates are in your area.
wapo.st
January 1, 2026 at 2:46 AM
5 million-plus kindergartners now live in counties where schools don’t have “herd immunity” for measles, Washington Post reporters found.
WaPo also built a tool to look up your own county.
Exceptional, and alarming work by @laurenweberhp.bsky.social @caitlingilbert.bsky.social et al.
(Gift link.)
WaPo also built a tool to look up your own county.
Exceptional, and alarming work by @laurenweberhp.bsky.social @caitlingilbert.bsky.social et al.
(Gift link.)
May there be more love and fur in your life.
January 1, 2026 at 3:25 AM
May there be more love and fur in your life.