Ryan J. Gallagher
@ryanjgallag.com
Applied scientist trying to make the internet a little better. PhD. Trust & safety, networks, fingerstyle guitar. I use my hair to express myself. They/he
Pinned
Ryan J. Gallagher
@ryanjgallag.com
· Nov 12
With more people migrating to Bluesky (and my general quietness since Twitter fell apart), I want to reintroduce myself!
I'm an applied scientist in online trust & safety. I specialize in detecting coordinated/harmful/deceptive networks, and bridging domain expertise with machine learning systems
I'm an applied scientist in online trust & safety. I specialize in detecting coordinated/harmful/deceptive networks, and bridging domain expertise with machine learning systems
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
At TrustCon this year I talked about a technique we’ve developed for automatically optimizing content-moderation policies, using an inversion of the binocular labeling approach Zentropi had already pioneered. Today we're shipping the tool that technique became.
blog.zentropi.ai/optimizing-o...
blog.zentropi.ai/optimizing-o...
Optimizing our Policy Optimizers
Today, we are releasing our next-generation policy refinement tools: policy-only correction, label-only correction, and auto-optimization.
blog.zentropi.ai
September 16, 2026 at 6:27 PM
At TrustCon this year I talked about a technique we’ve developed for automatically optimizing content-moderation policies, using an inversion of the binocular labeling approach Zentropi had already pioneered. Today we're shipping the tool that technique became.
blog.zentropi.ai/optimizing-o...
blog.zentropi.ai/optimizing-o...
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
"just look at the data" final boss
September 16, 2026 at 10:16 AM
"just look at the data" final boss
Caused my first production incident at the new job 👏🏻😭
September 16, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Caused my first production incident at the new job 👏🏻😭
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
For over a year, an unknown entity has been hijacking Bluesky accounts and incorporating them into a spam network that follows real users while serving up a mix of political posts, news links, and plagiarized photos. In recent months, some of the spam accounts' posts have started to go viral.
September 15, 2026 at 12:28 AM
For over a year, an unknown entity has been hijacking Bluesky accounts and incorporating them into a spam network that follows real users while serving up a mix of political posts, news links, and plagiarized photos. In recent months, some of the spam accounts' posts have started to go viral.
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
I do not think anyone has to leave twitter for bluesky
but I do think everyone has to leave twitter
but I do think everyone has to leave twitter
There are a lot of people who think their parents got their brains destroyed by Fox News, but somehow they’re not getting their brains destroyed by staying on Twitter.
September 14, 2026 at 6:44 PM
I do not think anyone has to leave twitter for bluesky
but I do think everyone has to leave twitter
but I do think everyone has to leave twitter
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
We were interested in studying the Bsky custom feed ecosystem, with a focus on feed creators, as arguably the first real instantiation of the vision of middleware providers for social media services like recommendation. The idea always seemed great in theory, but how sustainable is it really?
Bluesky gives users the power to choose their algorithms, but how does this actually work in practice?
In our new preprint, we explore the ecosystem of Bluesky custom feeds and the feed creators behind them! 🧵
arxiv.org/abs/2609.12958
In our new preprint, we explore the ecosystem of Bluesky custom feeds and the feed creators behind them! 🧵
arxiv.org/abs/2609.12958
Middleware for Feed Recommendation in Practice: How Feed Creators Build, Maintain, and Sustain Custom Feeds on Bluesky
Scholars have long proposed third-party middleware as an alternative to centralized algorithmic feeds: feeds built and distributed by independent feed creators. This vision saw no large-scale instanti...
arxiv.org
September 14, 2026 at 10:51 PM
We were interested in studying the Bsky custom feed ecosystem, with a focus on feed creators, as arguably the first real instantiation of the vision of middleware providers for social media services like recommendation. The idea always seemed great in theory, but how sustainable is it really?
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
If you're moderately technical (aka if you have the inklings of understanding of a programming language and/or know of TCP/IP); this course from @blackskyweb.xyz might be for you if you want to understand how this stuff works (like how does Blacksky/Bluesky work)
learn.blacksky.community
learn.blacksky.community
August 23, 2026 at 8:31 PM
If you're moderately technical (aka if you have the inklings of understanding of a programming language and/or know of TCP/IP); this course from @blackskyweb.xyz might be for you if you want to understand how this stuff works (like how does Blacksky/Bluesky work)
learn.blacksky.community
learn.blacksky.community
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
#OutNow in #iCS
Research on coordinated social media manipulation has grown rapidly, but the field lacks a systematic synthesis of empirical findings on observed campaigns. This study addresses that gap through a systematic review of 83 studies.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Research on coordinated social media manipulation has grown rapidly, but the field lacks a systematic synthesis of empirical findings on observed campaigns. This study addresses that gap through a systematic review of 83 studies.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Just the tip of the iceberg? State of the art of coordinated social media manipulation research
Social media environments are increasingly exploited by manipulative actors through coordinated social media manipulation (CSMM) campaigns: the intentional and deceptive orchestration of social med...
www.tandfonline.com
September 14, 2026 at 9:17 PM
#OutNow in #iCS
Research on coordinated social media manipulation has grown rapidly, but the field lacks a systematic synthesis of empirical findings on observed campaigns. This study addresses that gap through a systematic review of 83 studies.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Research on coordinated social media manipulation has grown rapidly, but the field lacks a systematic synthesis of empirical findings on observed campaigns. This study addresses that gap through a systematic review of 83 studies.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
PhD students (& new PhDs): I'm hiring a postdoc at Cornell (Ithaca) to conduct a novel study at the intersection of political economy and tech. Applications are due Oct 16. There are a LOT more details in the job ad so make sure to read it thoroughly: academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/32502
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
September 14, 2026 at 1:43 PM
PhD students (& new PhDs): I'm hiring a postdoc at Cornell (Ithaca) to conduct a novel study at the intersection of political economy and tech. Applications are due Oct 16. There are a LOT more details in the job ad so make sure to read it thoroughly: academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/32502
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
Get in, folks: a new Russian disinfo campaign is targeting the midterms, specifically Democrats, in what seems to be the first attempt by the Kremlin-backed op to meddle in this year’s U.S. elections. They're faking celebrity videos attacking Dems and are...very stupid.
www.ms.now/news/russia-...
www.ms.now/news/russia-...
A Russian disinformation campaign is doctoring celebrity videos to meddle in the midterms
The Kremlin-backed operation, known as Matryoshka, has Hollywood actors telling voters to disavow the Democratic Party and vote Republican.
www.ms.now
September 11, 2026 at 8:06 PM
Get in, folks: a new Russian disinfo campaign is targeting the midterms, specifically Democrats, in what seems to be the first attempt by the Kremlin-backed op to meddle in this year’s U.S. elections. They're faking celebrity videos attacking Dems and are...very stupid.
www.ms.now/news/russia-...
www.ms.now/news/russia-...
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
This story is also a tale of two social media platforms. Seven of the videos were posted to Bluesky, but most were posted to X. Bluesky removed the inauthentic accounts. X did nothing.
September 11, 2026 at 8:31 PM
This story is also a tale of two social media platforms. Seven of the videos were posted to Bluesky, but most were posted to X. Bluesky removed the inauthentic accounts. X did nothing.
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
Over six months, we tracked the appearance of child sexual abuse material on X. We found images from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's database, which is considered one of the most highly vetted and which many tech companies block on upload. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/t...
Elon Musk Has Pledged to Rid His Platform, X, of Child Sexual Abuse, but It Persists
Reviews by the Canadian Center for Child Protection and The New York Times found that explicit images of children remain on the social media site owned by Elon Musk.
www.nytimes.com
September 11, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Over six months, we tracked the appearance of child sexual abuse material on X. We found images from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's database, which is considered one of the most highly vetted and which many tech companies block on upload. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/t...
the people yearn for open networks even if they don't know it. think of how much content is screenshots across platforms, and think of how it could just be all on the same protocol so you can share it anywhere
September 11, 2026 at 2:55 PM
the people yearn for open networks even if they don't know it. think of how much content is screenshots across platforms, and think of how it could just be all on the same protocol so you can share it anywhere
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
New from our lab! #COLM2026
When people generate stories, they don't just write one prompt. Instead, they explore narrative space via branching edits 🌱
We reconstruct 24k of these edit trees 🌳 from chat logs and map edit types, story formats, how they relate to tree depth, and more!
When people generate stories, they don't just write one prompt. Instead, they explore narrative space via branching edits 🌱
We reconstruct 24k of these edit trees 🌳 from chat logs and map edit types, story formats, how they relate to tree depth, and more!
September 10, 2026 at 10:13 PM
New from our lab! #COLM2026
When people generate stories, they don't just write one prompt. Instead, they explore narrative space via branching edits 🌱
We reconstruct 24k of these edit trees 🌳 from chat logs and map edit types, story formats, how they relate to tree depth, and more!
When people generate stories, they don't just write one prompt. Instead, they explore narrative space via branching edits 🌱
We reconstruct 24k of these edit trees 🌳 from chat logs and map edit types, story formats, how they relate to tree depth, and more!
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
New on @indicator.media: Community Notes on Instagram covered just 3% of false posts debunked by the US bureau of AFP Fact Check.
This analysis comes one day after Meta announced it would expand the program to 16 new countries.
This analysis comes one day after Meta announced it would expand the program to 16 new countries.
Meta says Community Notes is bigger than fact-checking. That's not the whole story
Crowdsourced fact-checking on Instagram covered just 3% of false posts debunked by one fact-checking website
indicator.media
September 10, 2026 at 12:32 PM
New on @indicator.media: Community Notes on Instagram covered just 3% of false posts debunked by the US bureau of AFP Fact Check.
This analysis comes one day after Meta announced it would expand the program to 16 new countries.
This analysis comes one day after Meta announced it would expand the program to 16 new countries.
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
I'm having some fun in this thread but I do think you should get in trouble for unleashing insane hacker robots on the open Internet that you've explicitly instructed to attack critical public infrastructure, which, to be clear, it eventually succeeds at.
September 10, 2026 at 12:04 AM
I'm having some fun in this thread but I do think you should get in trouble for unleashing insane hacker robots on the open Internet that you've explicitly instructed to attack critical public infrastructure, which, to be clear, it eventually succeeds at.
I don't really understand why we're letting AI companies run "tests" that involve real hacking and supply chain attacks
Can you imagine if they tried to publish that ten years ago? It would have been a bigger scandal than the FB emotional contagion study and ended multiple careers
Can you imagine if they tried to publish that ten years ago? It would have been a bigger scandal than the FB emotional contagion study and ended multiple careers
September 10, 2026 at 12:20 PM
I don't really understand why we're letting AI companies run "tests" that involve real hacking and supply chain attacks
Can you imagine if they tried to publish that ten years ago? It would have been a bigger scandal than the FB emotional contagion study and ended multiple careers
Can you imagine if they tried to publish that ten years ago? It would have been a bigger scandal than the FB emotional contagion study and ended multiple careers
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
If you write a math program to predict text fairly accurately and then build a layer to run other programs, and then spec your programs to use your language layer and design a task for it to find cybersecurity vulnerabilities, it is going to do that using vulnerable websites.
Scoop: OpenAI's rogue agents didn't just hijack a German wiki, they repurposed at least 10 sites -- and potentially many more -- to carve out communications side channels and cheat on tests.
www.reuters.com/world/openai...
www.reuters.com/world/openai...
EXCLUSIVE: OpenAI’s rogue agents used at least 10 more sites for unauthorized comms, researchers say
AI agents unleashed by OpenAI used more than 10 previously undisclosed websites for unsanctioned communications earlier this year, according to six sets of independent investigators and data reviewed ...
www.reuters.com
September 10, 2026 at 11:50 AM
If you write a math program to predict text fairly accurately and then build a layer to run other programs, and then spec your programs to use your language layer and design a task for it to find cybersecurity vulnerabilities, it is going to do that using vulnerable websites.
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
This sucks for the researchers, but also this is why you should only use an Enterprise license if you use AI for research, since that comes with data protections that would make this behavior very actionable., If you use a private account, however, any institutional data protections don’t apply.
“While unlikely, we cannot rule out that de-identified data derived from their usage of our products helped improve our models.”
September 8, 2026 at 7:08 PM
This sucks for the researchers, but also this is why you should only use an Enterprise license if you use AI for research, since that comes with data protections that would make this behavior very actionable., If you use a private account, however, any institutional data protections don’t apply.
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
The Journal of Online Trust and Safety is thrilled to release its new special issue: Digital Intersectionality and Marginalization in the Majority World. 🌏
🔗 tsjournal.org/index.php/jo...
#JOTS #TrustAndSafety #MajorityWorld #GlobalSouth
🔗 tsjournal.org/index.php/jo...
#JOTS #TrustAndSafety #MajorityWorld #GlobalSouth
September 8, 2026 at 7:03 PM
The Journal of Online Trust and Safety is thrilled to release its new special issue: Digital Intersectionality and Marginalization in the Majority World. 🌏
🔗 tsjournal.org/index.php/jo...
#JOTS #TrustAndSafety #MajorityWorld #GlobalSouth
🔗 tsjournal.org/index.php/jo...
#JOTS #TrustAndSafety #MajorityWorld #GlobalSouth
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
The Navier-Stokes fight is a perfect encapsulation of where AI development is right now: this should be really cool and exciting, and instead because of Silicon Valley egos it's become a fight over cheating, surveillance, and companies trying to get one up over the other
September 8, 2026 at 6:49 PM
The Navier-Stokes fight is a perfect encapsulation of where AI development is right now: this should be really cool and exciting, and instead because of Silicon Valley egos it's become a fight over cheating, surveillance, and companies trying to get one up over the other
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
My AI takes:
-data centers: still bad.
-A.I. for coding: if the coders say it works, I'm not gonna fight them over that.
-How big of a deal we make out of A.I. coding really depends on where you sit.
-A.I. isn't vaporware... but the A.I. future ABSOLUTELY is.
davekarpf.beehiiv.com/p/a-few-note...
-data centers: still bad.
-A.I. for coding: if the coders say it works, I'm not gonna fight them over that.
-How big of a deal we make out of A.I. coding really depends on where you sit.
-A.I. isn't vaporware... but the A.I. future ABSOLUTELY is.
davekarpf.beehiiv.com/p/a-few-note...
A few notes on the state of AI right now
A.I. isn't vaporware. But the A.I. future ABSOLUTELY is.
davekarpf.beehiiv.com
September 8, 2026 at 6:25 PM
My AI takes:
-data centers: still bad.
-A.I. for coding: if the coders say it works, I'm not gonna fight them over that.
-How big of a deal we make out of A.I. coding really depends on where you sit.
-A.I. isn't vaporware... but the A.I. future ABSOLUTELY is.
davekarpf.beehiiv.com/p/a-few-note...
-data centers: still bad.
-A.I. for coding: if the coders say it works, I'm not gonna fight them over that.
-How big of a deal we make out of A.I. coding really depends on where you sit.
-A.I. isn't vaporware... but the A.I. future ABSOLUTELY is.
davekarpf.beehiiv.com/p/a-few-note...
What books are best to read more about the (slave) labor conditions of people coerced into running online scams?
September 6, 2026 at 2:45 PM
What books are best to read more about the (slave) labor conditions of people coerced into running online scams?
Reposted by Ryan J. Gallagher
We’re holding our Osprey Working Group call in just under an hour and a half (1730 UTC)!
This public meeting brings adopters, contributors, and curious folks together to discuss and plan the Osprey open source project that helps power T&S at Bluesky, Matrix, Discord, & more.
Come join us!
This public meeting brings adopters, contributors, and curious folks together to discuss and plan the Osprey open source project that helps power T&S at Bluesky, Matrix, Discord, & more.
Come join us!
September 4, 2026 · roostorg osprey · Discussion #484
Our bi-weekly working group call is Friday 1730–1830 UTC! Google Meet #osprey in the ROOST Discord Proposed discussion topics: Adopters! Pain points, feedback, questions, etc. ROOST/Community updat...
github.com
September 4, 2026 at 4:04 PM
We’re holding our Osprey Working Group call in just under an hour and a half (1730 UTC)!
This public meeting brings adopters, contributors, and curious folks together to discuss and plan the Osprey open source project that helps power T&S at Bluesky, Matrix, Discord, & more.
Come join us!
This public meeting brings adopters, contributors, and curious folks together to discuss and plan the Osprey open source project that helps power T&S at Bluesky, Matrix, Discord, & more.
Come join us!
they got me unfortunately
September 4, 2026 at 2:51 PM
they got me unfortunately