Guided case study
A platform’s rule is another gate
Publishing, discoverability, and access are separate practical capabilities.
RED THREADS · THE COLLECTION
The research library
Choose a subject, read the findings, and follow them into the maps and original records.
AI influence & governance
Safety campaigns, proposed restrictions, evaluators and the institutions shaping AI.
114 articles, notes & maps →Money & institutions
Donors, foundations, grants, ownership and the obligations attached to resources.
165 articles, notes & maps →Identity & online safety
Age checks, digital identity, child-safety policy and access to online services.
88 articles, notes & maps →Payments & platform access
Banks, payment processors, distribution rules and the routes for challenging exclusion.
93 articles, notes & maps →Media, data & persuasion
Paid messaging, advertising lists, information classifiers and access to platform data.
117 articles, notes & maps →Research methods & open questions
Synthesis, unresolved questions and the working records behind the investigation.
11 articles, notes & maps →All articles, notes & maps
67 results
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A positive audit and no approved requests
FTI’s 2024/25 audit concluded positively on readiness, reported zero approvals and found the inspected applications incomplete or invalid. A later voluntary tracker provides a separate, unmatched account.
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AI foundations & creators
Follow the named relationships between the main participants in this part of the investigation.
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AI ownership and board power — proposals
Compare El-Sayed’s proposed public board majority with Sanders’s proposed equity fund and commission.
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Andreessen: capital and policy
Follow Andreessen's personal political receipt, a16z's investment and advocacy routes, and Meta's documented corporate oversight role.
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Apple, Liberty and a partly private court case
Liberty and Privacy International filed a separate complaint and submitted arguments. The tribunal denied concealment of basic Apple case details while keeping the March hearing private.
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BASI: money, research and lab access
Follow Pliny’s grant, reported contracts and the personnel links into credited frontier-lab testing.
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BT6: people, projects and professional work
The collective’s public roster connects to tools, publications, a bug-bounty program and a vendor challenge.
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California: who qualifies the AI auditors?
California has moved from a proposal to enacted rules for the organizations that assess AI. SB813 gives GovOps responsibility for qualifying independent verifiers, with criteria due by January2028. AB1405 adds a registry and, from…
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Check My Ads: requests and responses
CMA asks for creator/advertiser checks, platform review before monetization and sanctions. Its crisis revenue/refund proposal has an explicit regulator response: specific monetization practices were not recommended.
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Classifications, licences and business decisions
White Bullet describes an official-list index and a separate proprietary risk index. Peer39 markets an exclusion offering. Gambling Commission duties give a distinct contractual route for licensees.
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Content & payment campaigns
Follow the named relationships between the main participants in this part of the investigation.
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ControlAI & political access
Follow the named relationships between the main participants in this part of the investigation.
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ControlAI’s US lobbying operation
Reported spending, professional roles and the UK-US disclosure link show the machinery behind congressional advocacy.
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Court challenges and the limits of restoration
eGumball sought emergency delisting relief. The 2023 appeal reversed that provisional relief; the 2025 appeal rejected anti-SLAPP protection at its first step. FilmOn supplied an expressly applied legal framework.
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Digital-rights policy & funders
Follow the named relationships between the main participants in this part of the investigation.
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EA: money, media and new institutions
Follow funding into recruitment, new organizations and research capacity.
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From evidence to police and advertiser decisions
Operation Creative separates rightsholder referrals, police assessment and distribution to advertising recipients. Operators can challenge action; police removal has a stated evidential condition.
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From published code to legal effect
The crisis statement was published in June and children-code amendments were laid. Their source record does not resolve final crisis commencement. September’s NCII announcement supplies a different measure’s date.
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From research terms to classification decisions
GDI contributed existing keyword resources; FBK edited D2.1 and recorded internal coordinator review. The document’s sampling and methodological choices are inspectable.
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From safety prototypes to reused evaluation methods
DCMS appointed PA for OSDI assurance. PUBLIC reports prototype testing and later credits OSDI practices in a separate STCF evaluation. A dated expert group supplied advice.
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From technical work to public prohibition
Walk between people, organisations, and a precisely scoped policy demand.
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Full Fact: requested access and official responses
Full Fact seeks broader crisis scope, meaningful data access for accredited fact-checkers and stronger supervision. Ofcom retains a narrower formal channel and declines central coordination and routine submission of every analysis.
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Funding policy work and organizing
Multi-year philanthropy supports policy capacity; recurring organizing support has its own published conditions.
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Gates, Anthropic and public-service AI
Follow the joint programme and its institutional connections.
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GDI: public grants and EU research funding
FCDO reports support to the named GDI operation. The Commission records AI4TRUST project funding and a contribution for its German participant. These are two documented channels.
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GDI’s advertising relationships—and their endings
The historical Oracle segment and IAS input connect GDI ratings to buyer choices. Both named intermediaries later announced exits from the relevant service or input.
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How an advertising classification can be challenged
GDI describes publisher rating appeals and reassessment. Its UK operator’s policy separately offers qualified consideration of concerns about research outputs.
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How Full Fact’s input changed a notice indicator
Ofcom attributes the notice-indicator amendment to Full Fact’s response and questions at an earlier DSIT meeting. Its FOI answer separately reports initial planning and a May 2026 approval window.
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How merchant records affect payment access
Acquirers report qualifying terminations; authorized users must inquire. Mastercard permits admission of a listed merchant, while Stripe publishes a more restrictive practice with exceptions. Correction is a distinct route.