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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Former President Donald Trump's actions on January 6, 2021, are back in the news.</li><li>Vice President Kamala Harris is also elevating one of Trump's biggest critics, former Rep. Liz Cheney.</li></ul>With roughly 30 days left before Election Day, Vice President <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blockbuster-jobs-report-kamala-harris-election-trump-inflation-economy-2024-10">Kamala Harris</a> and her allies are amplifying their focus on the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.Trump, for his part, has really never stopped talking about the 2020 election. He brings it up at almost every rally. But Harris' final rebuttal is shaping up in the form of a closing argument delivered by former Congresswoman <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/liz-cheney-voting-for-kamala-harris-for-president-2024-9">Liz Cheney</a> and top Trump aides."Our republic faces a threat unlike any we have faced before — a former president who attempted to stay in power by unraveling the foundations of our republic, by refusing to accept the lawful results confirmed by dozens of courts of the 2020 election," Cheney said Thursday night in Ripon, Wisconsin, the birthplace of the Republican Party.The Harris campaign's efforts to remind voters of Trump's final days in office will get a boost next week when an outside group will host <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cassidy-hutchinson-back-out-bombshell-testimony-jan-6-hearing-enough-2023-9">Cassidy Hutchinson</a>, the former Trump aide whose searing testimony was at the forefront of the House January 6 committee, Cheney, and two other former Trump aides at an event in Pennsylvania. While that is not an official Harris rally, her campaign has already made waves in the key battleground by airing an ad featuring a local couple who previously supported Trump."I voted for him twice, I won't vote for him again," Bob Lange says in the ad entitled "Not Again." "January 6 was a wake-up call for me." Former Trump 2020 staffer Matt Wolking said the Harris' campaign focus on January 6 illustrates a return to the core of what made Biden's campaign struggle."What happens when you run a vibes campaign like Kamala has, devoid of most other substance and then you run out of vibes?" Wolking told Business Insider. "Well, you return to old crutches, and this is an old crutch that is leftover from the Biden campaign. The January 6 campaign strategy is the Biden campaign strategy from earlier this year."Voters have given Harris better marks than Biden, but the topic still does not have the sheer weight that the economy does.<h2 id="9fea5b3b-3415-4795-ab61-8624c8955edd">The economy is still the most important issue in the race.</h2>Voters have long said the economy is the most important issue in the race, lending some slight risk to focusing on the 2020 election. Polls have shown that Harris has closed Trump's commanding lead on the economy. But the broader theme of democracy hasn't been forgotten. A recent PBS News/NPR/Marist poll found that 95% of voters say the economy is a factor in their vote. The same survey found that 89% of voters would say the same about "preserving democracy," including 64% who say it would be a "deciding factor" in their decision. (The poll of US adults was conducted from September 27 through October 1, 2024. Marist interviewed 1,628 adults via phone, text, and online. The margin of error for registered voters is +/- 3.5 percentage points.)Trump's campaign blamed the media for the renewed focus on January 6."The media is desperate to talk about anything other than the issues Americans are facing today — from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, to the crisis at our border, migrant crime, inflation, and the ongoing port worker strike — because the problems of today prove Kamala Harris is the worst vice president in history," Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement issued on Thursday. On Thursday night, port workers and the United States Maritime Alliance announced the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/striking-dockworkers-return-to-work-amid-ongoing-negotiations-cnn-2024-10">suspension of the strike</a> until January 15 as contract negotiations continue.Both campaigns have tried to lean into democracy-related appeals. Trump has claimed that it's the Democrats who are the true threat, arguing without evidence that they are responsible for his assassination attempts. He also repeatedly claimed that the White House is orchestrating the criminal cases against him, another claim that doesn't hold up.There's ample evidence that Trump should be concerned if voters cast their ballots with 2020 in mind. Voters thoroughly rejected his allies who echoed his concerns about 2020 during the midterm elections two years later. Most notably, those setbacks occurred in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Arizona, all four states that remain battlegrounds in the presidential race.According to a recent Washington Post poll, most of the voters in Pennsylvania, widely believed to be race's biggest prize, believe Biden won the 2020 race fair and square. The numbers are different for Republicans, but the rejection of election denialism is clear among Democrats and, most critically, independents.<h2 id="07baf555-3b4c-414d-b4a3-f164a7d84702">Harris' efforts aren't the only reason 2020 is back in the news</h2>Special counsel <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/judge-releases-prosecutors-evidence-against-trump-in-election-interference-case-2024-10">Jack Smith's 165-page filing</a> was released earlier in the week, providing new details about Trump's actions as rioters stormed the Capitol. Smith's team says it is prepared to call a top Trump aide to testify that only the then-president himself could have sent out his infamous tweet attacking Vice President Mike Pence for lacking "courage" by refusing to help overturn the results."The defendant personally posted the tweet on the afternoon of January 6 at a point when he already understood that the Capitol had been breached," Smith's team wrote in the filing.Sen. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jd-vance-donald-trump-january-6-vp-debate-tim-walz-2024-10">JD Vance</a> of Ohio refused to answer directly to Gov. Tim Walz during Tuesday's vice-presidential debate when he pressed Trump's running mate about who won the 2020 election."Tim, I am focused on the future," Vance replied. "Did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 COVID situation?"Harris' campaign soon cut what Walz described as Vance's "damning non-answer" into an attack ad.Asked again about his views on the 2020 election, Vance remained defiant after a Friday rally. The GOP vice presidential nominee accused journalists of being so interested in the last election because "they don't care a lick about what happened afterwards.""I'm from Ohio, I am not from the South, but I think there's a phrase that really works — bless your heart," he said. "We are focused on the future in this election and in this campaign."

2020 is back on the 2024 campaign trail

They survived the Holocaust. Then the online trolls came for them.      

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US conducted two intercontinental ballistic missile tests this week.</li><li>The missiles were unarmed and not in reaction to current world events, the Air Force said.</li></ul>The US conducted back-to-back intercontinental ballistic missile tests this week to ensure the silo-based leg of the US nuclear triad is working as it should.The tests of the Minuteman III demonstrate the readiness and reliability of the weapon, Air Force Global Strike Command said, as work on the next ICBM continues amid budget issues and delays.The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.afgsc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3795367/minuteman-iii-test-launch-showcases-readiness-of-us-nuclear-forces-safe-effecti/">first missile test occurred</a> on June 4 at 12:56am Pacific Time at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, where "a joint team of Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen supported by Space Force Guardians launched an unarmed Minuteman III <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intercontinental-ballistic-missiles-science-2017-7">intercontinental ballistic missile</a> equipped with one re-entry vehicle," AFGSC said.The test, it added, was part of "routine and periodic activities" demonstrating the readiness and effectiveness of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-china-more-icbm-launchers-us-has-nuclear-edge-2023-2">US' nuclear deterrent</a>. "Such tests have occurred over 300 times before, and this test is not the result of current world events," the command said.The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.afgsc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3798467/second-minuteman-iii-test-in-weeks-time-showcases-readiness-of-uss-icbm-fleet/">second test</a> was carried out on June 6 at 1:46am Pacific Time and was also at Vandenberg."The fact that we were able to complete two operational test launches in one week is a testimony to the excellence and professionalism of the Airmen and Guardians who do this mission every day," said Col. Chris Cruise, 377th Test and Evaluation Group Commander. "This morning's launch demonstrates our commitment to deterrence as we serve as the cornerstone of security for our allies and partners across the globe."In both cases, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-air-force-aborts-planned-test-launch-of-icbm-2021-5">Minuteman III</a> traveled around 4,200 miles to the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command's Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on the U.S. Army Garrison-Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.The US military released video footage of the first and second tests online in the aftermath.The tests helped various US departments involved in the maintenance and development of ICBMs gather data on the missiles' flights and launches, AFGSC said.The latest tests of the Minuteman III come as the development of its successor, the LGM-35 Sentinel, continues amid <a target="_blank" href="https://www.airandspaceforces.com/new-icbm-critical-cost-schedule-overruns/">growing costs and delays</a>. In 2020, the Air Force awarded a sole-source contract to develop the missile to Northrop Grumman with a delivery date in the late 2020s and an entry into service in the 2030s.Since then, the missile program's cost has ballooned by 37%, jumping from an estimated $95.3 billion to more than $125 billion, and it will take at least two years longer than expected. Some <a target="_blank" href="https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2024/06/new-icbms-cost-soars-few-lawmakers-are-trying-rein-it/397148/">estimations</a> suggest the program is now likely to cost over $131 billion. The increase is so staggering that it breached Nunn-McCurdy limits and forced US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to reapprove the program to keep it from being cancelled.The rising costs and delays have been attributed to capability jumps from the Minuteman III, particularly related to launch control facilities, as well as inflation and labor issues.The Sentinel program expects to produce 634 missiles, 450 of which will replace Minuteman III missiles. 184 will be used for tests to demonstrate system readiness, and 25 will be used for developmental test vehicles. Until the Sentinel comes online, though, the Minuteman III will continue to serve as the Air Force's ICBM.

The US just carried out back-to-back ICBM launches, keeping the Minuteman III sharp until a new missile comes online

They survived the Holocaust. Now they're tackling hate online.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Oliur Rahman leveraged smartphone customization to start making money online after high school.</li><li>He sold designs on Tumblr before a stint at a startup and expanding into an online store and YouTube.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Oliur Rahman, a 31-year-old YouTuber and entrepreneur in the UK. It has been edited for length and clarity.I come from a South Asian background but was born and raised in the UK. We weren't wealthy — I grew up on benefits in social housing. None of my family members were formally educated or owned property.I never expected to become the first person in my family to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-mistake-buyers-sellers-mortgage-rates-time-to-buy-2024-3">buy a house</a> or to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-how-to-become-millionaire-wealth-income-happiness-routine-mindset-2023-11">become a millionaire</a>, but I did.<h2 id="b759d133-e1ca-4637-9581-3fe71a740b28">Buying my first smartphone opened a new door for me</h2>We didn't have internet at home until I was around 15 because my parents didn't see its value. When I finally got it, it fascinated me.I bought my first smartphone with money saved from working as a waiter. I customized it and shared my customizations on XDA Developers, a mobile software development community. This led to me making and selling icons and wallpapers, which was my first experience <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-ways-to-make-money-as-content-creator">making money online</a>.I used the money from selling these digital products to buy my first computer, a used iMac. Until then, I had to share a family computer. Buying that iMac was necessary for me to start making and learning things independently.<h2 id="8e173d99-bcaa-4f75-a9c5-d08f9936bf40">I decided not to go to university and instead make money online</h2>Despite my parents' typical concerns about formal education, I convinced them to give me a year to try making money online before <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/is-college-worth-it">considering university</a>. I made enough money to support myself that year — I paid them rent and helped with household bills.I shared my design work on Dribbble, where clients started to notice me. This exposure led to making website templates, particularly for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happened-to-tumblr-history-2014-girl-gen-z-millennials-2022-8">Tumblr</a>. I learned to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-be-freelance-web-designer-find-clients-make-six-figures">make and design websites</a> by watching tutorials on YouTube and replicating other work I'd seen online. I have no formal training.My themes became popular, and in 2014, I was approved to sell them on Tumblr's official online store, which significantly increased my income.My income had been around $20,000 to $30,000 a year, sometimes even less. Once I started selling on Tumblr, my income grew to six figures.I was still living with my parents when this financial success happened. They were still skeptical. I stayed with them for a few more years, saving as much as possible until I was ready to move out and find my first house.<h2 id="4dc124f9-fd2b-4a8d-af8e-689e69684692">I'm the first person in my family to purchase my own home</h2>I was around 23 when I started to see significant money from Tumblr. Knowing that success wouldn't last forever, I focused on learning new web design and development skills. This strategic move and saving most of my earnings allowed me to buy my first house.Now living on my own, I became a founding designer at a company called Plasso, where I worked for a year. I had always wanted to be part of a startup. Plasso paid well and I was given shares in the company for being an early employee.This venture paid off when Plasso was bought by GoDaddy, resulting in a significant payout for me.<h2 id="6da7b2dd-c139-45ea-96ee-2fdbcfcd74bf">I expanded my income streams after leaving the startup</h2>I started an online store called ULX Store in 2018 to sell my designs and other products.I started a YouTube channel in 2015 to provide insights I wish were available to me at a younger age, demonstrating that success is attainable without a privileged background or formal education.I began taking it seriously around 2020 when I realized its potential for scalable income through sponsorships and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/passive-income-built-website-google-adsense-2023-5">Adsense revenue</a>. My channel grew to around 100,000 subscribers, which attracted sponsorships and enabled me to charge significantly for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-sponsored-on-instagram">sponsored content</a>.Then, also in 2020, I was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ignored-colon-cancer-symptoms-diagnosis-abdominal-pain-bloody-stool-2024-3">diagnosed with cancer</a>. It was a very challenging period personally. At the same time, ULX Store became very successful. Our desk accessories were in high demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.That year, the store generated around $1M in revenue, contributing to my most profitable year yet.<h2 id="cbea26ec-63ca-417c-b384-245d7c448704">It's essential to diversify income streams and learn new skills</h2>After my diagnosis, I worked to ensure my business could operate without my direct involvement as I took time to care for myself. I was still earning a significant amount in passive income from YouTube Adsense, digital product sales, and sponsorships arranged earlier in the year, which was astonishing to me.Once I recovered, I gradually returned to work in early 2021, focusing more on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-valuation-mrbeast-how-much-worth-2024-3">YouTube</a> as it had grown significantly. In 2023, I earned around $600,000 a year from all my income streams.My approach to online business emphasizes starting with one main income stream and then using the earnings from that to diversify into other areas. I've always saved a large portion of my income, which has been crucial for building my wealth and investing in new ventures.<h2 id="33a24cee-07df-4f4a-b70b-ab87d13edb32">I have a few long-term goals</h2>Since turning 30 and considering <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scrapped-big-120-person-wedding-for-intimate-family-affair-empowering-2024-1">future family planning</a>, I'm focused on securing a financial foundation for myself and my potential children. I don't see myself retiring because I enjoy what I do too much and find it fulfilling. I envision creating a substantial <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/investment-portfolio">investment portfolio</a> that allows me to live comfortably off its returns.I recently <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moved-uk-dubai-life-easier-expensive-2024-1">moved to Dubai</a> but kept my house in the UK, so I can come back when I please. Even though my living expenses went up, my income also increased because I'm not paying as much in taxes. I'm excited for this new chapter.

I skipped college and now make $600,000 a year online. I'm the first person in my family to purchase my own home.

Counting of votes for 243 Assembly constituencies of Bihar is underway on Tuesday amid tight security and Covid-19 arrangements at all counting centres. Counting began at 8 a.m. at 55 counting centres set up at 38 district headquarters. According to the Bihar State Election Commission, three counting centres each in East Champaran, Siwan, Begusarai and Gaya, and two each in Nalanda, Banka, Purnia, Bhagalpur, Darbhanga, Gopalganj and Saharsa have been set up. And, there are 414 halls in 55 counting centers. According to the Election Commission, the first results were expected by mid afternoon. Voting took place in Bihar in three phases -- October 28, November 3 and November 7. The magic figure in the 243-seated Assembly is 122. A three-tier security arrangements has been made at all counting centres. Those with valid passes only have been allowed inside the polling stations. The counting of all the 14 Assembly constituencies of Patna will be held at the A.N. College, Patna District Magistrate Kumar Ravi said. The exit poll, after the polling, indicated a tough fight between the RJD-led Grand Alliance and the BJP-led NDA. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/india/news/checkout-here-bihar-assembly-election-2020-results-and-updates-online/articleshow/79142084.cms">Bihar Election Results 2020: Counting of votes begin, early trends indicate the Grand Alliance edging ahead of the JDU</a>

Bihar election counting underway amid tight security and COVID-19 precautions

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Max is the first AI contestant on "The Circle" — he's literally a chatbot. </li><li>Max is pretty boring, but having an AI in the game turned it into a robot witch hunt.</li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-to-film-the-circle-behind-the-scenes-2021-5">Netflix's "The Circle"</a> tends to lean more asinine than Asimov — but including an AI player who can chat it up with the best of them is the most science fiction twist the game has pulled so far.The show, a British import that Netflix launched in 2020, is ostensibly a commentary on social media. Players can only interact with each other through a chat interface, meaning that they can present themselves in whichever way they'd like as they scheme their way to becoming the most popular player at the end of the game and winning $100,000."The Circle" feels like little more than a competition (albeit a rather entertaining one). But bringing an AI player into the mix reflects some of the future online trials we're likely to face — and some that are already happening.<div type="image" title="laruen on the circle wearing a black dress with puffy sleeves, her hair worn curly and up in two small ponytails, she's smiling widely and has her hands up near her face" height="1080" width="1440" msid="109841993" hostid="261" sizebytes="130426"></div>"The Circle's" AI player is Max, a chatbot masquerading as a 26-year-old veterinary intern from Wisconsin who describes himself as an "animal whisperer with a knack for making bad pottery, no cap." He's got a nice face (courtesy of comedian Griffin James, who's being a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6IQWbmLilc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">very good sport</a>) and a cute dog named Pippa. If all of that isn't enough to clue you in, he's boring and safe as hell. And when the other players learn that there's a bot in their midst (without knowing who), they don't turn on him. They turn on each other."The Circle" ratchets up the tension through challenges that require players to rank each other on a scale from most to least human or prove their humanity by uploading photos of moments when they felt "alive." Messy accusations ensue, which 35-year-old podcaster Steffi takes the brunt of after proving that she has an encyclopedic knowledge of astrology (these people don't have any friends who can provide horoscopes on demand?).<div type="image" title="Contestant Stephanie &quot;Steffi&quot; Hill in season six episode four of &quot;The Circle&quot;" height="1080" width="1440" msid="109841994" hostid="261" sizebytes="76426"></div>At the risk of being cliché, Max's inclusion in the game says much more about us as humans than the current capabilities of chatbots, though he performs admirably. The players in "The Circle" react viscerally to the idea of being threatened by a bot and even more viscerally to accusations that they are one. And unfortunately for all of us, this kind of stuff is already happening.Since the rise of chatbots like ChatGPT, which was created by OpenAI, people have voiced concerns about students using it to cheat on their classwork by making it write essays or do research for them. Look at this wild graph my colleague Alistair Barr published last September that shows <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/school-is-back-chatgpt-mainly-tool-cheating-homework-2023-9">search interest in ChatGPT plummeting</a> over the summer when students were out of school.On the flip side, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/universities-ditch-ai-detectors-over-fears-students-falsely-accused-cheating-2023-9">some schools have eschewed AI detectors</a> — which OpenAI itself has said could be faulty — because they may lead to false accusations that students used chatbots to complete their work. Look at this guide that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/08/14/prove-false-positive-ai-detection-turnitin-gptzero/">The Washington Pos</a>t published in August 2023 about what to do if you're accused of using AI to cheat! Folks have been <a target="_blank" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/07/10/dating-app-bots-learn-how-spot-them-before-swiping/5406539002/">worried</a> about stealth chatbots on dating apps like Tinder for years. And as Business Insider previously reported, social media is<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-flooded-spammy-ai-content-2023-8"> rife with spammy AI-generated content</a> reliant on ChatGPT. Hell, if you want to opt-in to chatbot relationships, you can do what my colleague Katie Notopoulos did and go on dates with them.I'm not really here to litigate how AI language learning models are becoming <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gpt4-openai-ai-models-dont-improve-over-time-dumber-2023-7">more or less sophisticated,</a> or more human. But what "The Circle" shows is that their simple presence, and potential for deception, puts all of us under the lens.Of course, the show is an extreme environment: Players don't meet each other face to face, and they interact in fairly limited ways within the parameters of a specific game. Max was able to study past seasons of "The Circle," according to the bot's narration in the show, and for the most part, didn't behave more bizarrely than any human.In the real world, we can use further context clues to evaluate the humanity of those we interact with online. Do they have a new account with three followers and keep spamming replies that try to redirect users to porn links? <a target="_blank" href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/who-is-behind-all-the-pussy-in-bio-porn-spam-on-x.html">Probably a bot</a>. But in specific instances where written text is king — such as college papers — it's not hard to see how false assumptions made by humans can lead to painful accusations. It's quite literally <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/professor-fails-students-after-chatgpt-falsely-said-it-wrote-papers-2023-5">already happening at universities</a>."The Circle" can't commit fully to the bit. After Myles, who is coincidentally an AI engineer (self-driving cars, not chatbots), is voted in as the "most human" player, he goes with the majority opinion and eliminates Steffi the astrologer. She is, of course, human and unhappy about the bot accusations — but the decision still results in her removal from the game.Disappointingly, Max then also removes himself, revealing that he was the droid the players were searching for.<div type="image" title="a black computer tower with blue and pink lights on it, sitting on a coffee table. behind it, there's a couch and throw pillows with Max's face on them, and captions like &quot;like a boss&quot;" height="1053" width="1404" msid="109841997" hostid="261" sizebytes="126218"></div>Perhaps producers decided they had put the players through enough psychological warfare, or maybe Max's zingers like "my social algorithms are initiated and ready to mingle" were too powerful for television. Whatever the reason, Max made for one of the most memorable parts of the show — even though he was the most boring player."The Circle" finale airs Wednesday on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.netflix.com/">Netflix</a>.

'The Circle' used an AI player to create a bot witch hunt — and soon, we might all be defending our humanity online too

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Bad actors have hijacked webpages to advertise drugs and guns.</li><li>They can do so because <keyword id="6355629" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="google" source="Orion">Google</keyword> has changed how it indexes web content.</li></ul>If you're looking to score some coke online, Google has made it a little easier — with an unsuspecting assist from the Food and Drug Administration, Interpol, the United Nations, and dozens of other government agencies, businesses, and nonprofits. "<keyword id="14727" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cocaine" source="Orion">Cocaine</keyword> for sale here," the page hosted on the <keyword id="6354656" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fda" source="Orion">FDA</keyword>'s website said alongside a telephone number and a handle for the encrypted-messaging app Wickr. "Buy crystal meth online." <div type="image" title="Search result on the Food and Drug Administration page advertising cocaine, crystal meth, and other drugs for sale on Wickr and WhatsApp." height="842" width="1678" msid="104014381" hostid="261"></div>The culprit is a recent change by Google that makes defacing websites with advertisements for where to buy cocaine, heroin, meth, ketamine, Xanax, black-market Ozempic, ecstasy, and other drugs suddenly a viable way to find customers. Many websites set up their internal search functionality in a way that creates a new, permanent webpage for every unique search string that users enter — effectively giving users the power to create a webpage on the site. When you enter "see Jane run" into the search box on the FDA's webpage, for instance, the site creates a search-result page with its own unique address to show you the results, whether there are any hits or not. (The FDA blocked pages with drug ads after Insider alerted the agency they existed.) What's new is that Google now shows those results pages to people searching the internet, <a href="https://seotoollab.com/index.php" target="_blank">Ted Kubaitis</a>, a search-engine-optimization expert who alerted Insider to the exploit, said. Last year, Google <a href="https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/03/url-parameters-tool-deprecated" target="_blank">rolled out an internal change</a> that moved many of those user-generated result pages into the vast library of content that shows up when people use Google Search. The company said its automated web crawler had grown so sophisticated that it knew "automatically" which pages were important to index. Before the change, many website owners manually restricted Google from crawling the results of internal searches. Google's announcement of the change made it sound like the upgraded web crawler would do the same. It doesn't. Nor does it always appear to pay attention to other signals webmasters code in asking Google not to index their search results. Now it's relatively simple to create advertisements on websites' internal search pages for how to buy drugs and have those pages show up in Google's search results — massively expanding drug dealers' reach. In practice, this means that bad actors are identifying websites that have an internal search function and are seen as trustworthy by Google — such as government, educational, and media websites — and putting in searches for things like "buy cocaine," along with Telegram handles or a website address. Slipping these messages into highly trusted websites increases the likelihood that prospective drug buyers will see the ads. Websites for government agencies, nonprofits, and media organizations are more likely to show up higher in search rankings. <div type="image" title="The website for Ontario, Canada ranks highly for a Google search for &quot;buy heroin,” and the page it leads to has information on whom to contact to purchase cocaine." height="1500" width="3000" msid="104014384" hostid="261"></div>At the time of publication, the government-maintained website for Ontario was one of the top results when searching "buy heroin," with detailed information on whom to contact. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime, which recently published a <a href="https://www.unodc.org/res/WDR-2023/WDR23_B3_CH7_darkweb.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> on online drug sales, hosted ads for cocaine. The website for Interpol, the international police agency that is charged, in part, with fighting drug traffickers, was in the top five results for "buy cocaine." (After Insider alerted the agency that its page had been hijacked, the company temporarily turned off its website's internal search functionality and purged the pages of drug ads. An Interpol spokesperson said that it had "taken steps to ensure this content is no longer visible in Google searches.") Insider identified more than four dozen websites for government agencies, universities, news organizations, nonprofits, and businesses that had been hijacked and indexed on Google. Insider's own website was among those hit. <div type="image" title="Screengrab of search results on Insider's web page showing an advertisement for drugs." height="976" width="1916" msid="104014386" hostid="261"></div>In a statement, a Google spokesperson said the company's "advanced spam-fighting systems enable us to keep Search 99% spam-free, and we're continuously improving these systems to fight the increasing volume of spammy content online." When it came to getting rid of the drug-market ads, the spokesperson suggested that website owners take "the appropriate action to prevent these pages from appearing in Google Search," sharing a <a href="https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/control-what-you-share" target="_blank">link</a> to what website owners should do. (Many of the websites identified by Insider looked to be following guidelines but appeared in Google Search regardless.) <h2>Quick access to online black markets</h2>Some of the illicit advertisements direct searchers to Telegram channels with thousands of members where cocaine, ecstasy, opiates, marijuana products, and guns are advertised. We viewed five such channels where people post photos of the goods they say they're selling, tout their rapid shipping through the US Postal Service, and instruct purchasers to send money through Cash App. Insider did not independently verify whether purchases took place through the channels, only that illicit goods were being advertised for sale. <div type="image" title="Four screengrabs from Telegram groups showing drugs and guns for sale." height="1440" width="2560" msid="104014388" hostid="261"></div>The channels are active, sometimes with numerous posts a day. They're crowded with hundreds of photos of oxycodone pills, Xanax tablets, MDMA crystals, blocks of cocaine, marijuana buds, and brightly packaged edibles. Some share screenshots of supposed testimonials from happy customers. One channel that had advertised on the website of the Scottish police also appeared to sell guns, including AR-15-style rifles. Other advertisements were for websites where users could apparently order heroin and cocaine in bulk and pay in cryptocurrency. Insider direct-messaged seven Telegram handles using this Google hack to ask what they were selling, and two responded. One offered a menu of illicit drugs, including cocaine, amphetamines, and heroin. The other said they were selling bank-account information and cloned credit cards. Insider did not respond to the messages. Public Telegram channels selling drugs began proliferating around 2020, Monica Barratt, a drug-policy expert and senior research fellow at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, said in an email. Their growth has mirrored the rise in online drug sales overall: Barratt's <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34999269/" target="_blank">research</a> estimates that roughly one-third of drug sales now take place online. "Any further advertisement of these channels, especially if it is well placed and targeted, could increase sales," Barratt added. <div type="image" title="Screengrabs showing Telegram chat with people offering to sell drugs and clone credit cards to Insider's reporter." height="3000" width="3000" msid="104014389" hostid="261"></div><h2>Hijacking trusted websites to advertise drugs</h2>Hackers are savvy about how to game Google's search results so their advertisements rank highly. They create content on webpages that Google considers highly trustworthy, such as sites for government agencies, schools, nonprofits, and news organizations. "People are using that trust for nefarious purposes," Kubaitis said. That's why instructions for buying mushrooms online in Fresno, California, appear on the website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's why someone advertised how to buy cocaine and fentanyl in Pittsburgh on a National Institutes of Health website. And it's why a Cleveland Clinic page with contact information for a person claiming to sell crack is one of the first Google results for people who want to "buy cocaine online" in Clairton, Pennsylvania. <div type="image" title="Hijacked DEA page showing drugs for sale." height="546" width="1055" msid="104014394" hostid="261"></div>Other organizations related to the drug trade were also hacked. The first result for "buying cocaine online" in New York is a Drug Enforcement Administration website. It directs searchers to the Telegram user who offered to sell Insider cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines. The Australian Alcohol and Drug Foundation, an anti-drug-abuse nonprofit, contains contact information for people saying they sell cocaine, Xanax, and fentanyl. One of the first results for "buy crack cocaine Chicago Telegram" is the website for the narcotics-addiction-treatment program Narconon, defaced with the contact information of an apparent drug dealer. <div type="image" title="IRS website showing ad for online drug sales" height="572" width="1920" msid="104014397" hostid="261"></div>Insider identified nearly a dozen defaced webpages operated by federal and local government agencies. The IRS hosts advertisements for drug sales targeting searchers in Dayton, Ohio, and Goodlettsville, Tennessee. The contact information for another saying they sell cocaine, meth, and heroin shows up on the website of Tricare, the health-insurance provider for the US military. A search for "buy meth online telegram Alabama" directs users to a Telegram handle posted on the website for the Alabama Department of Public Health. <div type="image" title="Tricare website showing ad for online drug markets" height="1076" width="1866" msid="104014400" hostid="261"></div>Universities, including East Tennessee State University, the University of California, Davis, and the University of Chicago were also hit. So were media organizations, including The New York Times, Bloomberg, CNBC, The Washington Post, and The Economist. Insider identified so many websites exploited in this way that these examples only scratch the surface. A search for the Wickr and Telegram handle of one illicit drug advertiser in Google returned over 7,000 results across over 24 domains, with some websites being hit hundreds or thousands of times. Drug advertisers have used a slew of techniques to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8550219.stm" target="_blank">market on high-ranking webpages</a> over the years, but spoofing a site's internal search function appears new, said Timothy Mackey, the director of UC San Diego's Global Health Policy and Data Institute who's researched online drug markets. It's not clear how effective the ads are at ginning up new customers — it's possible they're used by scammers looking to cheat the type of less-internet-literate user who would try to buy drugs by typing "where can I buy cocaine near me" into Google, he said. Still, Mackey said, the existence of ads for online drug markets on the pages of agencies that are supposed to be addressing the illegal drug trade "shows how brazen these guys really are." <h2>Website owners are confused and often unaware </h2>Insider contacted every organization named in this article for comment. Most did not respond, but those that did said they were unaware that their pages had been hijacked until Insider alerted them to it and were working to address the issue. Many of the organizations either deleted the ads or removed them from Google's index after Insider alerted them, including Insider itself. "We are shocked to learn that this has been occurring," the CEO of the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, Erin Lalor, said in a statement. The organization has reported the issue to Google and has reconfigured its website settings to try to ensure it doesn't happen again, she added. "We are currently investigating why this exploitation technique was not picked up," she said. After Insider contacted East Tennessee University, the school began redirecting pages with drug advertisements to land on the website of an affiliated addiction recovery center, a spokesperson said. Page owners appear to be working hard to weed out the advertisements from the web. Snippets of content for several ads, including on websites for the state of Maine and Medicare, were cached on Google's search page, but when Insider navigated to the website itself, the page no longer existed. The unwanted advertisements are just one of the devious techniques used to boost webpages' rankings on Google, <a href="https://www.ericschwartzman.com/about/">Eric Schwartzman</a>, a marketing consultant and the author of a <a href="https://www.ericschwartzman.com/negative-seo-report/">recent paper</a> on the topic, said. The first Google search result traps nearly all the web traffic for those keywords, meaning website owners are incentivized to try to game Google's opaque algorithm that determines which results rank higher than others. The language of the ads themselves is typical search-engine-optimization garble, designed to be read by Google's crawler but nearly unintelligible for humans. They're not complete sentences, just a list of keywords — usually drugs — cities, and contact information. At the time of publication, the second result for a Google search for "buy Ozempic online Seattle" was an illicit ad on Dribbble, a platform for graphic-design hiring. The results on the Pinterest-like site also included images of harder drugs overlaid with Telegram, WhatsApp, and Wickr accounts of sellers. Dribbble CEO <keyword id="19022871" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="zack-onisko" source="Orion">Zack Onisko</keyword> was shocked to learn that the search results of his website were being indexed because he believed Dribbble had instructed Google not to do so. "What in the hell?" he texted an Insider reporter upon learning that his page had been exploited. The pages "will come down," he said. (The ads identified by Insider were gone in hours, but other ads on Dribbble persisted at the time of publication.) The proliferation of drug ads in search results lands amid a growing upswell of discontent with what some users and website owners say is the declining quality of Google Search. The company's recent decision, for instance, to bump artificial-intelligence-authored content in its rankings has drawn <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-search-helpful-content-update-results-drop-ai-generated-2023-9" target="_blank">outrage from some website owners</a> who say traffic to their pages has shriveled while junk AI-written content wins Google's search rankings. For now, a simple Google search leads prospective drug buyers to markets on Telegram. In one channel, an apparent dealer shared a screenshot of a message he'd received from a purported client. "How's the morphine syrup?" the dealer asked. "Was a killer," the client responded. Correction: October 4, 2023 — An earlier version of this article incorrectly described Google's treatment of artificial intelligence-generated content in search rankings. Google has started recently started ranking some AI-written pages higher but has been indexing AI-written content in its search engine for some time.

How a Google loophole lets drug dealers hijack nearly any website — including our own

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Gina Carano spoke about being fired from "The Mandalorian" in 2021 after an online backlash.</li><li>The actor says that the show's lead, Pedro Pascal, tried to help her at the time.</li></ul>Gina Carano said "The Mandalorian" star <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pedro-pascal-the-last-of-us-ethan-hawke-interview-2023-4">Pedro Pascal</a> tried to help her when she was dealing with online backlash as a result of her controversial comments regarding pronouns.In September 2020, Carano put "boop/bop/beep" in her Twitter bio after fans asked her to show support for the transgender community. Her joke was met with heavy backlash online.She was later fired from "The Mandalorian" in February 2021 after sharing a post that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gina-carano-fired-the-mandalorian-controversy-timeline-twitter-2021-2">compared being a Republican to being Jewish</a> during the Holocaust.Plans for Carano to lead her own "Star Wars" show, "Rangers of the New Republic" were also shuttered in November 2021, according to Empire Magazine (via <a target="_blank" href="https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/rangers-of-the-new-republic-lucasfilm-update">SyFy)</a>.She's now working with Elon Musk's X to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-x-gina-carano-sue-disney-star-wars-firing-2024-2">sue Disney for wrongful termination</a> from the franchise.But when speaking to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/gina-carano-interview-madalorian-firing-elon-musk-disney-1235851597/">The Hollywood Reporter</a> on Thursday about her exit from the "Star Wars" franchise, Carano recalled how Pascal had explained the transgender community to her. She said he also attempted to help her with the backlash over her pronoun joke.Carano said: "He was telling me, 'Just put #transrights in your feed. Do it and they'll leave you alone.' "She explained why she didn't, saying: "Because that's not my style, to put hashtag anything. I'm also not going to put #TrumpsRights."The actor said she wasn't trying to insult the transgender community, noting: "I thought it was cute, like R2-D2."In 2020, Carano defended herself on Twitter, saying: "I'm not against trans lives at all. They need to find less abusive representation." The star went on to tell THR that she became close with Pascal after working on "The Mandalorian" and that they recently spoke after the death of their costar, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/carl-weathers-death-celebrities-costars-schwarzenegger-stallone-social-media-tributes-2024-2">Carl Weathers</a>, in February 2024."Me and Pedro were so close. He knows 1,000 percent I'm not homophobic or transphobic. He texted me after Carl Weathers passed away. We had our conversation and it was beautiful," she said."One thing he did say was, 'Thank you. You and Carl Weathers have always been protectors,'" Carano said. "And he knows what that means, and I know what that means, and I wish I could tell why. We basically left it at 'I can't wait to give you a big hug.' "Representatives for Pedro Pascal didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Gina Carano says 'The Mandalorian' star Pedro Pascal tried to help during online backlash: 'Just put #transrights in your feed.'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell said he's spent $40 million trying to overturn the 2020 election result.</li><li>Lindell asked supporters to help him by buying stock in his online channel, Frank Speech.</li></ul>MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell said he had spent over $40 million trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and asked for supporters to help by buying stock in his online channel."What we're doing with Frank Speech, within the next couple weeks, could be for two to four weeks, we're offering stock to the public. This is going to be amazing. I want every person out there to have a little piece of the pie for our voice for this country," Lindell told conservative outlet Right Side Broadcasting Network."The money that I used to save this country, that I've been out spending — I've spent over $40 million," Lindell said. "I need help. We need help."Lindell has previously said he's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mike-lindell-mypillow-ceo-launches-frank-vocl-social-media-site-2021-3">invested millions</a> into his <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mike-lindell-hires-former-newsmax-host-frank-speech-broadcast-channel-2022-1">Frank Speech online channel</a>, which claims it is "the voice of free speech."Lindell is one of the most prominent promoters of former President Donald Trump's baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud.He has spoken about funding <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mypillow-ceo-mike-lindell-bankrolls-injunctions-stop-voting-machines-2022-4">a nationwide effort</a> to stop the use of electronic voting machines. He has had defamation lawsuits filed against him by voting technology<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/judge-rejects-mike-lindells-attempt-to-get-dominion-lawsuit-dismissed-2022-3"> company Dominion</a> and voting systems company <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-smartmatic-quest-get-mike-lindell-mypillow-lawyers-sanctioned-2022-3">Smartmatic</a>.Last month, Lindell was also <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/04/20/mike-lindell-prove-wrong-contest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ordered to pay $5 million</a> to a computer forensics expert who disproved his claims about election fraud in the 2020 presidential election in response to his 2021 challenge "Prove Mike Wrong." The Trump supporter previously told Insider that he's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mypillow-mike-lindell-25-million-pushing-baseless-voter-fraud-claims-2021-12">willing to spend everything he has</a> and "sell everything" to overturn the election result.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell asked supporters to buy stock in his online channel because his campaign to overturn the 2020 presidential election cost him $40M

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Gina Carano says 'The Mandalorian' star Pedro Pascal tried to help during online backlash: 'Just put #transrights in your feed.'

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