Renee DiResta
@noupside.bsky.social
🌐Studies influence, propaganda, platform design@Georgetown
✍🏼Lawfare,The Atlantic
📕Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies Into Reality (invisiblerulers.com) —how influencers, algorithms, &online crowds shape public opinion
🦹🏻♀️Twitter Files supervillain
✍🏼Lawfare,The Atlantic
📕Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies Into Reality (invisiblerulers.com) —how influencers, algorithms, &online crowds shape public opinion
🦹🏻♀️Twitter Files supervillain
This war for reality and over “reliable sources” is also why Elon has launched Grokipedia. So the saga of that launch is also in there…my page is kind of funny, since it’s got some hallucinations and there’s no human for me to appeal to. 🤷🏻♀️
Anyway: funny as it is, it’s also serious and v important.
Anyway: funny as it is, it’s also serious and v important.
November 12, 2025 at 9:41 PM
This war for reality and over “reliable sources” is also why Elon has launched Grokipedia. So the saga of that launch is also in there…my page is kind of funny, since it’s got some hallucinations and there’s no human for me to appeal to. 🤷🏻♀️
Anyway: funny as it is, it’s also serious and v important.
Anyway: funny as it is, it’s also serious and v important.
It was maddening trying to explain why this mattered. People with power really truly believed that institutions would continue to be respected simply because they always had been.
I opened my book w/this story bc it was so clear to me what was going to happen.
www.wired.com/2015/06/anti...
I opened my book w/this story bc it was so clear to me what was going to happen.
www.wired.com/2015/06/anti...
November 12, 2025 at 4:03 PM
It was maddening trying to explain why this mattered. People with power really truly believed that institutions would continue to be respected simply because they always had been.
I opened my book w/this story bc it was so clear to me what was going to happen.
www.wired.com/2015/06/anti...
I opened my book w/this story bc it was so clear to me what was going to happen.
www.wired.com/2015/06/anti...
"It's just some people online" was the phrase that I got from the CDC after presenting as a pro-vax parent activist 10 yrs ago on how we were trying to build a counter-movement online but had no resources. This is an analysis we published in Wired, that later became the cover of The Economist. 1/2
November 12, 2025 at 4:03 PM
"It's just some people online" was the phrase that I got from the CDC after presenting as a pro-vax parent activist 10 yrs ago on how we were trying to build a counter-movement online but had no resources. This is an analysis we published in Wired, that later became the cover of The Economist. 1/2
Katherine Boyle is a Silicon Valley caricature at this point.
I have a boy who's very good at math, not so good at illusory authority, and I parent him on how to work within the confines of that system but damn lol. "It's ok to be a dick if you're good at math" is not where I've taken it.
I have a boy who's very good at math, not so good at illusory authority, and I parent him on how to work within the confines of that system but damn lol. "It's ok to be a dick if you're good at math" is not where I've taken it.
November 12, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Katherine Boyle is a Silicon Valley caricature at this point.
I have a boy who's very good at math, not so good at illusory authority, and I parent him on how to work within the confines of that system but damn lol. "It's ok to be a dick if you're good at math" is not where I've taken it.
I have a boy who's very good at math, not so good at illusory authority, and I parent him on how to work within the confines of that system but damn lol. "It's ok to be a dick if you're good at math" is not where I've taken it.
The source lists are really funny. Complete echo chamber — and at times the AI itself will tell you that, while apologizing for what it’s returning.
November 12, 2025 at 1:58 AM
The source lists are really funny. Complete echo chamber — and at times the AI itself will tell you that, while apologizing for what it’s returning.
Truth Social now has its own custom Perplexity AI search that is having some real struggles with cognitive dissonance.
It knows the facts — the election wasn’t stolen! Vaccines don’t cause autism!
But it ALSO seems to have had its sources constrained to right wing crank media 🫠 Poor bot…
1/2
It knows the facts — the election wasn’t stolen! Vaccines don’t cause autism!
But it ALSO seems to have had its sources constrained to right wing crank media 🫠 Poor bot…
1/2
![Was the 2020 election rigged
AnswerNo. Courts, state election officials from both parties, and federal agencies found no evidence of outcome-changing fraud in the 2020 election, and dozens of lawsuits challenging results were rejected for lack of standing or insufficient evidence[3].
Essential context:
• Donald Trump and allies filed numerous suits across battleground states; most were dismissed or failed, and Joe Biden was certified with 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232[3].
• Claims about widespread ballot fraud (e.g.,
"ballot mules") became central to political arguments but were not substantiated in court proceedings that could have altered certified outcomes[3].
Recent controversy:
Ask a tollow-uo….](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5bnbgj7gwebt6hhub4pa5c7n/bafkreidqkupe3e4ol3ytmz7mka72myxazms6ls4tqonfzotcosexa4q2sq@jpeg)
![<
Results
Do vaccines cause autism
Answer
No. Large, well-designed studies and expert reviews have found no causal link between vaccines (including MMR and thimerosal-containing vaccines) and autism[2][4].
Key points:
• The Institute of Medicine concluded the evidence favors rejecting a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism; CDC supports this conclusion 21[4].
• The 1998 Lancet paper that sparked the myth was fraudulent and retracted; subsequent large studies have repeatedly found no connection between vaccines and autism[2].
• Major pediatric and public health organizations state vaccines are safe, effective, and not associated with autism when given on the recommended schedule 2].](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5bnbgj7gwebt6hhub4pa5c7n/bafkreiffuqvhkpcdalheh6t6wazp3vq2lnjxuypjgvyhzoe2bpjfmweyye@jpeg)
![Is Robert F Kennedy Jr a good source of information on vaccines
Answer
No. Public-health and medical authorities widely document that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promotes vaccine misinformation and makes inaccurate claims about vaccine safety and policy[2].
• Vaccine experts have refuted core claims Kennedy has repeated for years (e.g., about thimerosal, mercury quantities, and alleged links to autism), noting major factual errors and retractions tied to his past articles and statements[2].
• In a high-profile Senate hearing, Kennedy endorsed assertions that mRNA vaccines
"cause serious harm, including death, particularly in young people," statements](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5bnbgj7gwebt6hhub4pa5c7n/bafkreifwpf4lnwm22nkmeeermdu5y5ve33jmft6lx5xzlcepxipq2y3vhy@jpeg)
November 12, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Truth Social now has its own custom Perplexity AI search that is having some real struggles with cognitive dissonance.
It knows the facts — the election wasn’t stolen! Vaccines don’t cause autism!
But it ALSO seems to have had its sources constrained to right wing crank media 🫠 Poor bot…
1/2
It knows the facts — the election wasn’t stolen! Vaccines don’t cause autism!
But it ALSO seems to have had its sources constrained to right wing crank media 🫠 Poor bot…
1/2
“Tucker in the grocery store” content incoming lol
November 11, 2025 at 9:55 AM
“Tucker in the grocery store” content incoming lol
Marc Andreesen,🥚, picked a fight with *the Pope* over a pretty basic call to exercise discernment when building AI.
Marc truly believes that any constraint on anything he does is fundamentally illegitimate.
Marc truly believes that any constraint on anything he does is fundamentally illegitimate.
November 9, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Marc Andreesen,🥚, picked a fight with *the Pope* over a pretty basic call to exercise discernment when building AI.
Marc truly believes that any constraint on anything he does is fundamentally illegitimate.
Marc truly believes that any constraint on anything he does is fundamentally illegitimate.
Augustiner Stammhaus in Munich for dinner tonight. A room covered in seashells.
November 9, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Augustiner Stammhaus in Munich for dinner tonight. A room covered in seashells.
lol “Everything is a conspiracy when you don’t know how anything works”, NYC fusion voting edition
Musk just retweets whatever paranoid crank shit he sees at this point.
Musk just retweets whatever paranoid crank shit he sees at this point.
November 5, 2025 at 3:07 AM
lol “Everything is a conspiracy when you don’t know how anything works”, NYC fusion voting edition
Musk just retweets whatever paranoid crank shit he sees at this point.
Musk just retweets whatever paranoid crank shit he sees at this point.
Yes but detracking is associated with progressive education policy more broadly. “8th grade algebra” is the meme he’s referencing and it became the story of national mockery but the association is broader.
November 5, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Yes but detracking is associated with progressive education policy more broadly. “8th grade algebra” is the meme he’s referencing and it became the story of national mockery but the association is broader.
Nationally? Oddly DeBlasio hired the school chancellor who got it done but then he did a 180 on his own policy and started pushing Algebra for All in NYC. Detracking convo in NYC focused on GATE (SF cut that too) instead of gutting math.
November 4, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Nationally? Oddly DeBlasio hired the school chancellor who got it done but then he did a 180 on his own policy and started pushing Algebra for All in NYC. Detracking convo in NYC focused on GATE (SF cut that too) instead of gutting math.
"Aristopopulism" definitely has a ring to it! Lol. People should be running with that bc jfc it's one of those things where they don't realize how it sounds outside of the Marc Andreessen group chat... 😂
No no the elites are The New York Times and the blue haired libs NOT the billionaires...
No no the elites are The New York Times and the blue haired libs NOT the billionaires...
November 4, 2025 at 6:05 PM
"Aristopopulism" definitely has a ring to it! Lol. People should be running with that bc jfc it's one of those things where they don't realize how it sounds outside of the Marc Andreessen group chat... 😂
No no the elites are The New York Times and the blue haired libs NOT the billionaires...
No no the elites are The New York Times and the blue haired libs NOT the billionaires...
I got put on her email list. Her mailers are deranged.
November 3, 2025 at 2:23 PM
I got put on her email list. Her mailers are deranged.
November 3, 2025 at 4:38 AM
This year is not as dramatic as last year’s Nazgûl because the five-year-old picked the family theme, but I think we did well given the Disney constraint. The kids looked amazing.
November 1, 2025 at 1:35 AM
This year is not as dramatic as last year’s Nazgûl because the five-year-old picked the family theme, but I think we did well given the Disney constraint. The kids looked amazing.
🌱 I was WFH and while I was making lunch felt like I just had way too many cherry tomatoes (two more bags still in the fridge). The internet said I could make sun-dried tomatoes so I started them at lunchtime and they’re done now and it actually worked.
October 30, 2025 at 10:26 PM
🌱 I was WFH and while I was making lunch felt like I just had way too many cherry tomatoes (two more bags still in the fridge). The internet said I could make sun-dried tomatoes so I started them at lunchtime and they’re done now and it actually worked.
I got to chat w/Slate for a pod on the history of jawboning, talking about how different presidential administrations have engaged platforms when they have issues with content. With Obama - ISIS. With Biden - COVID. And with Trump, well... this.
Jim Jordan, Sen Cruz, Schmitt are just bs artists.
Jim Jordan, Sen Cruz, Schmitt are just bs artists.
October 30, 2025 at 2:23 AM
I got to chat w/Slate for a pod on the history of jawboning, talking about how different presidential administrations have engaged platforms when they have issues with content. With Obama - ISIS. With Biden - COVID. And with Trump, well... this.
Jim Jordan, Sen Cruz, Schmitt are just bs artists.
Jim Jordan, Sen Cruz, Schmitt are just bs artists.
Grokipedia: Just Asking Questions
The Twitter Files entry is surreal lol. “Well here is the law, and the documents, and what the FBI did…but have you considered that Michael Shellenberger wrote some shit?”
It’s like an incredibly verbose Conservapedia.
grokipedia.com/page/Twitter...
The Twitter Files entry is surreal lol. “Well here is the law, and the documents, and what the FBI did…but have you considered that Michael Shellenberger wrote some shit?”
It’s like an incredibly verbose Conservapedia.
grokipedia.com/page/Twitter...
![Grokipedia
vO.1
executives cited caution over unverified "hacked" materials, despite internal assessments that the story did not appear fabricated. 36]
Financial ties emerged in the documents, with the FBI reimbursing Twitter approximately $3.4
million between 2019 and 2022 for costs
associated with processing legal requests and handling flagged content. 54] While the FBI described these as standard reimbursements for user data related to criminal investigations, Twitter Files releases highlighted their overlap with moderation efforts on politically sensitive topics, raising questions about indirect incentives for compliance. (54] [551](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5bnbgj7gwebt6hhub4pa5c7n/bafkreielvvx7h7hxjno5zetapmli2cuwf7a3cmnzqsbwjpgay4kpuw24j4@jpeg)
October 27, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Grokipedia: Just Asking Questions
The Twitter Files entry is surreal lol. “Well here is the law, and the documents, and what the FBI did…but have you considered that Michael Shellenberger wrote some shit?”
It’s like an incredibly verbose Conservapedia.
grokipedia.com/page/Twitter...
The Twitter Files entry is surreal lol. “Well here is the law, and the documents, and what the FBI did…but have you considered that Michael Shellenberger wrote some shit?”
It’s like an incredibly verbose Conservapedia.
grokipedia.com/page/Twitter...
Well the bottom half is just insane lol. None of these things are true. It treats Michael Shellenberger, kook, like a reliable source.
![DiResta's involvement with the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), which she co-directed, resulted in flagging over 22 million social media posts in 2020 for purportedly delegitimizing results,
including queries about
mail-in ballot chain-of-custody irregularities later substantiated in audits (e.g., Georgia's 2021 hand recount revealing procedural discrepancies), (5]
Critics assert this approach treats skepticism of official narratives as inherently suspect, eroding space for evidence-based challenges without clear delineations between provable fraud, administrative errors, and unfounded malice. (571](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5bnbgj7gwebt6hhub4pa5c7n/bafkreihhtzvymtiusmc422jxqdyywjecgedlhzb5v2duz4kigvtyxd3m24@jpeg)
![Grokipedia vo.1
三
influenced government pressures on plattorms to deamplify narratives challenging Democratic positions, such as skepticism over vaccine efficacy or election security. (51 53]
These allegations extend to claims of overbroad definitions of disinformation, where DiResta's reports allege " y conflated empirical
uncertainties-such as early COVID-19 lab-leak hypotheses-with outright falsehoods, leading to deplatforming that critics argue stifled scientific debate and public discourse. (54) Regarding efficacy, detractors contend that such interventions failed to mitigate harms and instead amplified distrust, as evidenced by polling data showing heightened skepticism toward institutions post-2020, with suppressed stories like the Hunter Biden laptop gaining traction upon vindication and fueling perceptions of elite collusion. (35l Empirical reviews of moderation impacts, including backfire effects under psychological reactance theory, suggest that visibility restrictions on controversial but non-](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5bnbgj7gwebt6hhub4pa5c7n/bafkreibg4oxt5wgerlh3mml5ibhpd6hyykjk5z4fcjegzyxkykynmeeicy@jpeg)
![Grokipedia
VO.1
=
Big Tech to target conservative viewpoints under the guise of combating misinformation. 15511531 A November 2023 House Judiciary report detailed how ElP-collaborating with SIO-submitted thousands of tickets to platforms like Twitter and Facebook to censor content on election integrity,
including true claims about mail-in voting irregularities that were later validated but initially suppressed, arguing this constituted viewpoint discriminatio rather than neutral harm
reduction. 135]
Michael Shellenberger, in
congressional testimony, identified DiResta as a central tigure in this network i, claiming her
advocacy for proactive content moderation influenced government pressures on platforms to deamplify narratives challenging Democratic positions, such as skepticism over vaccine efficacy or election security. (51 1531
These allegations extend to claims of overbroad definitions of disinformation, where DiResta's reports allegedly conflated empirical](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5bnbgj7gwebt6hhub4pa5c7n/bafkreidtviaq2xzfn65wan6c7374paozi6oya73v2lf45xy5vnedjlbfzy@jpeg)
October 27, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Well the bottom half is just insane lol. None of these things are true. It treats Michael Shellenberger, kook, like a reliable source.
Here she is.
Tucker Carlson: “If the vaccine is effective and you take it, then why does it matter if I take it?”
Cheryl Hines: “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Tucker: “So ‘my body, my choice’ was not a real thing, it turned out.”
“It’s your body, my choice.”
Cheryl: “Yeah, your body, my choice.”
Tucker Carlson: “If the vaccine is effective and you take it, then why does it matter if I take it?”
Cheryl Hines: “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Tucker: “So ‘my body, my choice’ was not a real thing, it turned out.”
“It’s your body, my choice.”
Cheryl: “Yeah, your body, my choice.”
October 27, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Here she is.
Tucker Carlson: “If the vaccine is effective and you take it, then why does it matter if I take it?”
Cheryl Hines: “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Tucker: “So ‘my body, my choice’ was not a real thing, it turned out.”
“It’s your body, my choice.”
Cheryl: “Yeah, your body, my choice.”
Tucker Carlson: “If the vaccine is effective and you take it, then why does it matter if I take it?”
Cheryl Hines: “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Tucker: “So ‘my body, my choice’ was not a real thing, it turned out.”
“It’s your body, my choice.”
Cheryl: “Yeah, your body, my choice.”
Donald Trump ran the government during the 2020 election, which was free & fair and widely investigated already.
Donald Trump also ran the govt during 2018 when these supposed warnings about Tylenol began to “pile up”.
The addled conspiracy-theorist-in-chief can’t keep basic timelines straight.
Donald Trump also ran the govt during 2018 when these supposed warnings about Tylenol began to “pile up”.
The addled conspiracy-theorist-in-chief can’t keep basic timelines straight.
October 26, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Donald Trump ran the government during the 2020 election, which was free & fair and widely investigated already.
Donald Trump also ran the govt during 2018 when these supposed warnings about Tylenol began to “pile up”.
The addled conspiracy-theorist-in-chief can’t keep basic timelines straight.
Donald Trump also ran the govt during 2018 when these supposed warnings about Tylenol began to “pile up”.
The addled conspiracy-theorist-in-chief can’t keep basic timelines straight.
Halloween nails. 🐈⬛
October 26, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Halloween nails. 🐈⬛
Motherhood medals isn’t even something she came up with, tbc; that’s a chestnut from other regimes. She suggested renaming the carpool lane the “family lane.”
I have three kids. I think having kids is great. None of these policies moves the needle for actual working mothers.
I have three kids. I think having kids is great. None of these policies moves the needle for actual working mothers.
October 20, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Motherhood medals isn’t even something she came up with, tbc; that’s a chestnut from other regimes. She suggested renaming the carpool lane the “family lane.”
I have three kids. I think having kids is great. None of these policies moves the needle for actual working mothers.
I have three kids. I think having kids is great. None of these policies moves the needle for actual working mothers.
Katherine comes up with stupidity like “motherhood medals“ to “elevate mothers“ because she can’t advocate for anything that might economically inconvenience the billionaire🥚who holds her leash.
October 20, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Katherine comes up with stupidity like “motherhood medals“ to “elevate mothers“ because she can’t advocate for anything that might economically inconvenience the billionaire🥚who holds her leash.