Rory White
@rorywh.bsky.social
🏴🇨🇦 Technology and Democracy Reporter at Canada's National Observer. Creator of Civic Searchlight.
Contact: rwhite.12 (Signal)
Contact: rwhite.12 (Signal)
Pinned
Rory White
@rorywh.bsky.social
· Dec 8
Inside the AI-powered conspiracy machine selling ‘Truthwear’ to Canadians
Multiple researchers told Canada’s National Observer that conspiracy companies like Mutinni are the inevitable result of artificial intelligence colliding with the attention economy. Social media algo...
www.nationalobserver.com
Step 1. Use AI to generate glossy conspiracy videos about climate change and Health Canada at scale
Step 2. Monetize in a Shopify store selling merch
Read my latest investigation into why conspiracy-commerce businesses are the logical endpoint of attention economy.
Step 2. Monetize in a Shopify store selling merch
Read my latest investigation into why conspiracy-commerce businesses are the logical endpoint of attention economy.
Reposted by Rory White
Grander, larger conspiracy theories coming to a city council near you. Watch out. Beyond everyone's annoying uncle, what Rory, Zoe and Supriya shared blew my mind.
@nationalobserver.com w/ @supriya.bsky.social @zoegrams.bsky.social @rorywh.bsky.social
@nationalobserver.com w/ @supriya.bsky.social @zoegrams.bsky.social @rorywh.bsky.social
[CNO Live] Climate disinformation is getting smarter. Are local governments ready?
YouTube video by National Observer
youtu.be
February 2, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Grander, larger conspiracy theories coming to a city council near you. Watch out. Beyond everyone's annoying uncle, what Rory, Zoe and Supriya shared blew my mind.
@nationalobserver.com w/ @supriya.bsky.social @zoegrams.bsky.social @rorywh.bsky.social
@nationalobserver.com w/ @supriya.bsky.social @zoegrams.bsky.social @rorywh.bsky.social
Reposted by Rory White
On their Facebook page, the organizers of Building Caledon Together claim, “We’ve got regular jobs, one goes to school full-time, families, and a shared love for Caledon. We’ve chosen to stay anonymous for now. Not because there’s anything shady.”
Anonymous 'grassroots' community group in Ontario traced back to political operative
Building Caledon Together is framed to boost public support for development projects — but it appears to be part of a much larger operation, a Canada's National Observer investigation reveals.
www.nationalobserver.com
February 2, 2026 at 5:29 PM
On their Facebook page, the organizers of Building Caledon Together claim, “We’ve got regular jobs, one goes to school full-time, families, and a shared love for Caledon. We’ve chosen to stay anonymous for now. Not because there’s anything shady.”
Reposted by Rory White
Anonymous 'grassroots' community group in Ontario traced back to political operative. New investigative work from @nationalobserver.com's @rorywh.bsky.social www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/02/i...
Anonymous 'grassroots' community group in Ontario traced back to political operative
Building Caledon Together is framed to boost public support for development projects — but it appears to be part of a much larger operation, a Canada's National Observer investigation reveals.
www.nationalobserver.com
February 2, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Anonymous 'grassroots' community group in Ontario traced back to political operative. New investigative work from @nationalobserver.com's @rorywh.bsky.social www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/02/i...
Reposted by Rory White
“When professional PR firms funded by 'anonymous' interests drive political conversations, that poses a real danger to our ability as citizens to engage with each other,” he said. “Generally speaking, legitimate grassroots groups do not hide the identities of their founders and leaders.”
My latest investigation is out. In the town of Caledon, Ont., political operatives thought they could create an anonymous, untraceable "citizen-led grassroots" campaign. But they forgot to scrub the image metadata.
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/02/i...
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/02/i...
Anonymous 'grassroots' community group in Ontario traced back to political operative
Building Caledon Together is framed to boost public support for development projects — but it appears to be part of a much larger operation, a Canada's National Observer investigation reveals.
www.nationalobserver.com
February 2, 2026 at 3:31 PM
“When professional PR firms funded by 'anonymous' interests drive political conversations, that poses a real danger to our ability as citizens to engage with each other,” he said. “Generally speaking, legitimate grassroots groups do not hide the identities of their founders and leaders.”
My latest investigation is out. In the town of Caledon, Ont., political operatives thought they could create an anonymous, untraceable "citizen-led grassroots" campaign. But they forgot to scrub the image metadata.
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/02/i...
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/02/i...
Anonymous 'grassroots' community group in Ontario traced back to political operative
Building Caledon Together is framed to boost public support for development projects — but it appears to be part of a much larger operation, a Canada's National Observer investigation reveals.
www.nationalobserver.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:55 PM
My latest investigation is out. In the town of Caledon, Ont., political operatives thought they could create an anonymous, untraceable "citizen-led grassroots" campaign. But they forgot to scrub the image metadata.
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/02/i...
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/02/i...
Reposted by Rory White
Anonymous 'grassroots' community group in Ontario traced back to political operative www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/02/i... Fascinating read about finding out who is really behind an “astroturf “ group
Anonymous 'grassroots' community group in Ontario traced back to political operative
Building Caledon Together is framed to boost public support for development projects — but it appears to be part of a much larger operation, a Canada's National Observer investigation reveals.
www.nationalobserver.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:09 PM
Anonymous 'grassroots' community group in Ontario traced back to political operative www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/02/i... Fascinating read about finding out who is really behind an “astroturf “ group
Reposted by Rory White
One of the more surreal conversations I’ve ever had.
"Pick three random people from your hometown. And imagine them — like the Beverly Hillbillies going to the US, and talking to these guys, as if there could be any consequence come out of that. It makes me laugh. It literally makes me laugh." @arnokopecky.bsky.social speaks with Mitch Sylvestre.
The world according to the man behind Alberta's separatism petition
Mitch Sylvestre says the Canadian government is criminal, he has fears of a communist takeover and he's 'cured of federalism.' Arno Kopecky spoke with him about the allegations of coordination with US...
www.nationalobserver.com
January 29, 2026 at 9:53 PM
One of the more surreal conversations I’ve ever had.
Reposted by Rory White
How's your local government doing differentiating what's real and what's AI-generated propaganda. Join me @supriya.bsky.social @rorywh.bsky.social @zoegrams.bsky.social
January 23, 2026 at 10:05 PM
How's your local government doing differentiating what's real and what's AI-generated propaganda. Join me @supriya.bsky.social @rorywh.bsky.social @zoegrams.bsky.social
Reposted by Rory White
The people demand shoe scene details!
New from me today for @nationalobserver.com. I submitted an FOI request, which revealed the province’s ad campaign budget for the Ring of Fire. One budget line lists nearly $60,000 for “additional costs as a result of eliminating shoe scene from TV spot.” WHAT IS A SHOE SCENE
Documents reveal Ontario's $7M Ring of Fire ad bill
These ads are pushing the controversial mega-project through a campaign it has dubbed “Protect Ontario,” which Canada’s National Observer has learned is earmarked with a budget of more than $7 million...
www.nationalobserver.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:50 PM
The people demand shoe scene details!
Reposted by Rory White
New from me today for @nationalobserver.com. I submitted an FOI request, which revealed the province’s ad campaign budget for the Ring of Fire. One budget line lists nearly $60,000 for “additional costs as a result of eliminating shoe scene from TV spot.” WHAT IS A SHOE SCENE
Documents reveal Ontario's $7M Ring of Fire ad bill
These ads are pushing the controversial mega-project through a campaign it has dubbed “Protect Ontario,” which Canada’s National Observer has learned is earmarked with a budget of more than $7 million...
www.nationalobserver.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:43 PM
New from me today for @nationalobserver.com. I submitted an FOI request, which revealed the province’s ad campaign budget for the Ring of Fire. One budget line lists nearly $60,000 for “additional costs as a result of eliminating shoe scene from TV spot.” WHAT IS A SHOE SCENE
Soon artificial intelligence will be redacting government documents. Would love to read the instructions they feed to the LLM.. "Your task is to minimize embarrassment to the department."
At least three federal departments are developing AI tools to help redact sensitive information from documents before they’re released to the public, reports Ben Andrews in his latest. Observers warn it could damage transparency in an already secretive access-to-information system.
Amid U.S. redaction scandal, Carney government developing AI systems to black out sensitive documents
At least three government departments are developing AI tools to help with redaction, but experts say the tech could "be a nightmare.”
ottawacitizen.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:39 PM
Soon artificial intelligence will be redacting government documents. Would love to read the instructions they feed to the LLM.. "Your task is to minimize embarrassment to the department."
Reposted by Rory White
At least three federal departments are developing AI tools to help redact sensitive information from documents before they’re released to the public, reports Ben Andrews in his latest. Observers warn it could damage transparency in an already secretive access-to-information system.
Amid U.S. redaction scandal, Carney government developing AI systems to black out sensitive documents
At least three government departments are developing AI tools to help with redaction, but experts say the tech could "be a nightmare.”
ottawacitizen.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:25 PM
At least three federal departments are developing AI tools to help redact sensitive information from documents before they’re released to the public, reports Ben Andrews in his latest. Observers warn it could damage transparency in an already secretive access-to-information system.
Reposted by Rory White
Via @rorywh.bsky.social
The same firm ran a campaign to save CBC — and Canada Proud's push to defund it www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/i...
The same firm ran a campaign to save CBC — and Canada Proud's push to defund it www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/i...
The same firm ran a campaign to save CBC — and Canada Proud's push to defund it
“It's like the Trump administration promoting Biden in an ad campaign,” said Ahmed Al-Rawi, Director of the Disinformation Project at Simon Fraser University. “This is unreal, like science fiction.”
www.nationalobserver.com
January 11, 2026 at 12:50 AM
Via @rorywh.bsky.social
The same firm ran a campaign to save CBC — and Canada Proud's push to defund it www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/i...
The same firm ran a campaign to save CBC — and Canada Proud's push to defund it www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/i...
Reposted by Rory White
As the right-wing meme page Canada Proud was posting calls to "DEFUND THE CBC," the same PR firm behind it was being indirectly funded by CBC journalists’ own union dues.
Yeah. And that's not all.
So I’m teaming up with my friends at @nationalobserver.com to tell you all about it:
Yeah. And that's not all.
So I’m teaming up with my friends at @nationalobserver.com to tell you all about it:
January 9, 2026 at 7:50 PM
As the right-wing meme page Canada Proud was posting calls to "DEFUND THE CBC," the same PR firm behind it was being indirectly funded by CBC journalists’ own union dues.
Yeah. And that's not all.
So I’m teaming up with my friends at @nationalobserver.com to tell you all about it:
Yeah. And that's not all.
So I’m teaming up with my friends at @nationalobserver.com to tell you all about it:
Reposted by Rory White
Jeff Ballingall being connected to both the pro-CBC and anti-CBC campaigns at the same time sounds about right
A PR firm hired to produce ads in support of the CBC is the same firm that has, for years, been calling for the public broadcaster to be defunded through its right-wing Canada Proud Facebook pages, a @rorywh.bsky.social investigation finds.
The same firm ran a campaign to save CBC — and Canada Proud's push to defund it
“It's like the Trump administration promoting Biden in an ad campaign,” said Ahmed Al-Rawi, Director of the Disinformation Project at Simon Fraser University. “This is unreal, like science fiction.”
www.nationalobserver.com
January 8, 2026 at 7:57 PM
Jeff Ballingall being connected to both the pro-CBC and anti-CBC campaigns at the same time sounds about right
Reposted by Rory White
There are actually just 10 real people on the entire Internet in Canada, four of whom are you, me, @ericwickham.ca and Wyatt Claypool
The rest are just sock puppet accounts and Facebook pages run by Jeff Ballingall
The rest are just sock puppet accounts and Facebook pages run by Jeff Ballingall
January 8, 2026 at 8:04 PM
There are actually just 10 real people on the entire Internet in Canada, four of whom are you, me, @ericwickham.ca and Wyatt Claypool
The rest are just sock puppet accounts and Facebook pages run by Jeff Ballingall
The rest are just sock puppet accounts and Facebook pages run by Jeff Ballingall
Reposted by Rory White
A PR firm hired to produce ads in support of the CBC is the same firm that has, for years, been calling for the public broadcaster to be defunded through its right-wing Canada Proud Facebook pages, a @rorywh.bsky.social investigation finds.
The same firm ran a campaign to save CBC — and Canada Proud's push to defund it
“It's like the Trump administration promoting Biden in an ad campaign,” said Ahmed Al-Rawi, Director of the Disinformation Project at Simon Fraser University. “This is unreal, like science fiction.”
www.nationalobserver.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:50 PM
A PR firm hired to produce ads in support of the CBC is the same firm that has, for years, been calling for the public broadcaster to be defunded through its right-wing Canada Proud Facebook pages, a @rorywh.bsky.social investigation finds.
Reposted by Rory White
Must-read, for Canadians
We should all be "concerned about the integrity of Canadian democratic discourse when the most influential ideological voices are products for clients, and when transparency erodes through nested corporations."
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/i...
We should all be "concerned about the integrity of Canadian democratic discourse when the most influential ideological voices are products for clients, and when transparency erodes through nested corporations."
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/i...
The same firm ran a campaign to save CBC — and Canada Proud's push to defund it
“It's like the Trump administration promoting Biden in an ad campaign,” said Ahmed Al-Rawi, Director of the Disinformation Project at Simon Fraser University. “This is unreal, like science fiction.”
www.nationalobserver.com
January 8, 2026 at 4:20 PM
Must-read, for Canadians
We should all be "concerned about the integrity of Canadian democratic discourse when the most influential ideological voices are products for clients, and when transparency erodes through nested corporations."
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/i...
We should all be "concerned about the integrity of Canadian democratic discourse when the most influential ideological voices are products for clients, and when transparency erodes through nested corporations."
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/i...
Reposted by Rory White
CBC employees’ union dues indirectly funded the same firm calling for their jobs to be eliminated. Likewise, the firm behind Canada Proud — one of Canada’s leading critics of public broadcasting — ran a campaign on behalf of CBC workers. Stunning finding from @rorywh.bsky.social
The same firm ran a campaign to save CBC — and Canada Proud's push to defund it
“It's like the Trump administration promoting Biden in an ad campaign,” said Ahmed Al-Rawi, Director of the Disinformation Project at Simon Fraser University. “This is unreal, like science fiction.”
www.nationalobserver.com
January 8, 2026 at 1:19 PM
CBC employees’ union dues indirectly funded the same firm calling for their jobs to be eliminated. Likewise, the firm behind Canada Proud — one of Canada’s leading critics of public broadcasting — ran a campaign on behalf of CBC workers. Stunning finding from @rorywh.bsky.social
I called number for the Local Matters campaign from the Canadian Media Guild on Facebook. The call was answered by an employee of the group behind Canada Proud, one of the loudest advocates for defunding the CBC.
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/i...
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/i...
The same firm ran a campaign to save CBC — and Canada Proud's push to defund it
“It's like the Trump administration promoting Biden in an ad campaign,” said Ahmed Al-Rawi, Director of the Disinformation Project at Simon Fraser University. “This is unreal, like science fiction.”
www.nationalobserver.com
January 8, 2026 at 1:12 PM
I called number for the Local Matters campaign from the Canadian Media Guild on Facebook. The call was answered by an employee of the group behind Canada Proud, one of the loudest advocates for defunding the CBC.
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/i...
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/08/i...
Reposted by Rory White
Across Alberta, municipalities are weighing the pros and cons of hosting AI data centres. I used @nationalobserver.com's Civic Searchlight tool to figure out which towns are looking at data centres and dig into how they are thinking about the costs & benefits www.nationalobserver.com/2025/12/16/n...
Alberta towns see AI data centres as 'second coming of oil' — but some worry at what cost
Municipalities across Alberta are trying to figure out whether they can — or should — try to cash in on the influx of AI data centre developers looking to set up shop in the province. For some council...
www.nationalobserver.com
December 16, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Across Alberta, municipalities are weighing the pros and cons of hosting AI data centres. I used @nationalobserver.com's Civic Searchlight tool to figure out which towns are looking at data centres and dig into how they are thinking about the costs & benefits www.nationalobserver.com/2025/12/16/n...
Reposted by Rory White
This story is such a great example of one of the use cases for Civic Searchlight. By searching across municipalities, @natashabulowski.bsky.social was able to build a far more comprehensive picture of data centre debates than we could have done even a year ago.
Across Alberta, municipalities are weighing the pros and cons of hosting AI data centres. I used @nationalobserver.com's Civic Searchlight tool to figure out which towns are looking at data centres and dig into how they are thinking about the costs & benefits www.nationalobserver.com/2025/12/16/n...
Alberta towns see AI data centres as 'second coming of oil' — but some worry at what cost
Municipalities across Alberta are trying to figure out whether they can — or should — try to cash in on the influx of AI data centre developers looking to set up shop in the province. For some council...
www.nationalobserver.com
December 16, 2025 at 8:23 PM
This story is such a great example of one of the use cases for Civic Searchlight. By searching across municipalities, @natashabulowski.bsky.social was able to build a far more comprehensive picture of data centre debates than we could have done even a year ago.
Reposted by Rory White
Civic Searchlight just got more useful. We've added the ability to watch council videos in the tool so that you can see and search the transcript while watching the video, to make sure you don't miss a beat.
Let us know how it works for you! civicsearchlight.nationalobserver.com
Let us know how it works for you! civicsearchlight.nationalobserver.com
December 17, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Civic Searchlight just got more useful. We've added the ability to watch council videos in the tool so that you can see and search the transcript while watching the video, to make sure you don't miss a beat.
Let us know how it works for you! civicsearchlight.nationalobserver.com
Let us know how it works for you! civicsearchlight.nationalobserver.com
Reposted by Rory White
This is valuable but not at all surprising to me given the frequency with which @indicator.media finds that it is Chinese advertisers behind scam nudifiers and pornbait ads.
see for ex:
> indicator.media/p/meta-ran-t...
> indicator.media/p/meta-ran-4...
see for ex:
> indicator.media/p/meta-ran-t...
> indicator.media/p/meta-ran-4...
Meta tolerates rampant ad fraud from China to safeguard billions in revenue
A Reuters investigation reveals the owner of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp decided to accept high levels of fraudulent advertisements from China. Internal company documents show Meta wanted to mini...
www.reuters.com
December 15, 2025 at 9:53 PM
This is valuable but not at all surprising to me given the frequency with which @indicator.media finds that it is Chinese advertisers behind scam nudifiers and pornbait ads.
see for ex:
> indicator.media/p/meta-ran-t...
> indicator.media/p/meta-ran-4...
see for ex:
> indicator.media/p/meta-ran-t...
> indicator.media/p/meta-ran-4...
Reposted by Rory White
We're hiring for a nine-month contract covering federal politics! Posting coming soon, but don't hesitate to reach out if you're interested — jimmy at nationalobserver dotcom
December 10, 2025 at 11:15 PM
We're hiring for a nine-month contract covering federal politics! Posting coming soon, but don't hesitate to reach out if you're interested — jimmy at nationalobserver dotcom