Craig Silverman
Craig Silverman is a national reporter for ProPublica covering voting, platforms, disinformation, and online manipulation.
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Craig Silverman is a national reporter for ProPublica covering voting, platforms, disinformation, and online manipulation. Silverman previously served as the media editor of BuzzFeed News, where he pioneered coverage of digital disinformation. He received a George Polk Award in 2021 for a series of articles that revealed how Facebook exposes the public to disinformation, fraud and violence. Silverman is also the recipient of the Carey McWilliams Award from the American Political Science Association, which honors “a major journalistic contribution to our understanding of politics.” His 2019 series exposing a global Facebook advertising scam was named investigation of the year by the Canadian Association of Journalists. Silverman is the author of two books and the editor of the European Journalism Centre’s Verification Handbook series.
Nevada Says It Worked Out the Kinks in Its New Voter System in Time for The Election, but Concerns Remain
After recent practice runs showed significant problems in transferring data accurately, the battleground state’s new centralized voter registration system will get its first real-world test in a major presidential election.
Exploiting Meta’s Weaknesses, Deceptive Political Ads Thrived on Facebook and Instagram in Run-Up to Election
Despite Meta's stated commitment to crack down on harmful content, it failed to catch tens of thousands of ads that used false claims and deepfakes of political figures to collect users’ sensitive personal data or bait them into monthly charges.
The Nation’s First Law Protecting Against Gift Card Draining Has Passed. Will It Work?
Despite industry pushback, Maryland became the first state to require secure packaging for most gift cards sold at stores. “It will change packaging nationally,” one retail insider predicted.
The President Ordered a Board to Probe a Massive Russian Cyberattack. It Never Did.
By not investigating the underlying weakness in Microsoft software that was key to the SolarWinds hack, the Cyber Safety Review Board missed an opportunity to prevent future attacks, experts say.
Chinese Organized Crime’s Latest U.S. Target: Gift Cards
Chinese crime rings already dominate the illegal marijuana trade in the U.S. and launder cocaine and heroin profits. Now a federal task force is investigating their role in a burgeoning form of gift card fraud.
Walmart Bought a Finance App and Reduced Fraud Protections. Guess What Happened Next?
The retail giant has long sought to become a financial powerhouse. But after it acquired a neobank called One in 2022, fraud complaints multiplied and customer reviews cratered.
How Walmart’s Financial Services Became a Fraud Magnet
Scammers have duped consumers out of more than $1 billion by exploiting Walmart’s lax security. The company has resisted taking responsibility while breaking promises to regulators and skimping on training.
Right-Wing Websites Connected to Former Trump Lawyer Are Scamming Loyal Followers With Phony Celebrity Pitches
A mysterious network called AdStyle is placing ads with fake endorsements from celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Elon Musk on conservative sites based in the U.S. and abroad.
A Scammer Tricked Instagram Into Banning Influencers With Millions of Followers. Then He Made Them Pay to Recover Their Accounts.
OBN, a mysterious fraudster, says he made hundreds of thousands of dollars by exploiting Instagram’s security gaps. He’s eluded Meta and law enforcement, but we followed his trail to Las Vegas.
Porn, Piracy, Fraud: What Lurks Inside Google’s Black Box Ad Empire
Google’s ad business hides nearly all publishers it works with and where billions of ad dollars flow. We uncovered a network containing manga piracy, porn, fraud and disinformation.
How Google’s Ad Business Funds Disinformation Around the World
The largest-ever analysis of Google’s ad practices on non-English-language websites reveals how the tech giant makes disinformation profitable.