Help Us Investigate Book Bans and Educational Censorship Around America

Over the last few years, some of our more meaningful (and unfortunately bleakest) reporting has been on the many ways in which the right wing has systematically targeted libraries, schools, authors, and educators over the things they teach, specifically with regard to the teaching of systemic racism, LGBTQ+ issues, science, and sex education. These targeting…

Read More

Cocaine in Private Jets and Sex Toys: What the FBI Found on its Secretly Backdoored Chat App

Private jets loaded with cocaine landing at an airport in Germany. A trafficker stuffing a racing sail boat with drugs and entering a tournament to blend in with other racers before speeding off. Vacuum-sealed layers of methamphetamine inside solar panels. And nearly 60 kilograms of drugs hidden inside a shipment of sex toys.  These are…

Read More

Police Said They Surveilled Woman Who Had an Abortion for Her ‘Safety.’ Court Records Show They Considered Charging Her With a Crime

In May, 404 Media reported that the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office in Texas searched a nationwide network of Flock cameras, a powerful AI-enabled license plate surveillance tool, to look for a woman who self-administered an abortion. At the time, the sheriff told us that the search had nothing to do with criminality and that they…

Read More