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Original Reporting

Investigative Articles

Data-driven investigations into Odysee's moderation failures, corporate structure, and the financial incentives behind the platform's refusal to act.

Search Exposure

The Queries Odysee Wins — 1.2 Million Monthly Searches, and the Top Result Is for Sale

We joined our live search-exposure audit with real-world Google search volume. “Israel”: 1.22 million Google searches a month — Odysee's top result for it was bought outright with a 114,573-LBC stake. “Ukraine”: 1 million a month. “Ivermectin”: 450,000. “Covid”: 246,000. For every one of these mass-demand terms, Odysee's first result is whatever a wallet staked the most crypto on. Also new: odysee.com draws 16.5 million backlinks from 44,680 referring domains — mainstream web infrastructure feeding a pay-to-rank search engine.

July 19, 2026

1.22M

monthly Google searches for one bought query

Sanctions

The RT–Sputnik Regional Network on Odysee — Eight EU-Banned State-Media Channels, 268 Flagged Items, All Live

EU Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/351 prohibits distributing RT and Sputnik in the Union. On Odysee the ban maps to eight live channels: @RT (74 flagged items, 54,498 LBC), @RTDE — RT Deutsch — (161 items), @RTFRANCE (11 items, 3,503 LBC), and five regional Sputnik outlets in Italian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, and English. 268 flagged items across the network, 63,444 LBC staked, zero removals. The German-language operation is now larger by item count than the flagship English channel.

July 19, 2026

8

EU-banned state-media channels live

Trajectory · Sixth Reading

Self-Stake Sixth Reading — 54 Channels, a 5.16M LBC Pool, and the Dilution Blind Spot

The formal count ticks 53 → 54 (@OurFreeSociety and @StopTheCrime enter the file; both were caught live in the fifth reading). The pool grows to 5,160,090 LBC across 3,576 channels analysed, and exact-100K-multiple stakes hit 34. The most instructive movement is a channel that LEFT the count: @PrivacyGuides added a second 100,000-LBC stake — and the dilution pushed its top-1 share from 99.7% to 54.2%, below the classifier threshold. Doubling the stake made the fingerprint vanish. We document the blind spot and the fix.

July 19, 2026

54

likely self-stake channels

Scan Delta

July Delta — 1,763 New Flagged Items and 201 New Channels in 33 Days, Zero Removals

Between the June 16 baseline and July 19, the scanner surfaced 1,763 newly flagged items across 201 previously unseen channels: +328 Conspiracy Promotion, +113 Terrorism, +111 Hate Speech, +30 Threats, +25 Extremism. The single fastest-growing named channel is @Alchimie — the French-language Hezbollah relay already on our sanctions watchlist — which added 40 items while EU-proscribed. Odysee removed nothing in the window.

July 19, 2026

+1,763

new flagged items in 33 days

Named Deplatformee · Scale Record

@AlexJonesChannel on Odysee — 1,825 Flagged Videos, the Single Largest Named-Channel Concentration on the Platform, Zero Removals

The most-deplatformed broadcaster in the English-speaking world — removed from YouTube, Facebook, Spotify, Apple, PayPal, and Twitter; $1.5B in Sandy Hook defamation judgments; Infowars in bankruptcy liquidation — runs the largest single named channel in our entire flagged dataset. 1,825 flagged items (~1.75% of all flagged content on Odysee), 179,311 LBC. Severity spread: 149 Conspiracy, 25 Incitement, 24 Hate Speech, 19 Terrorism, 7 Human Trafficking. Top stake: 'Submit to the Globalists' Medical Tyranny and Die' at 25,128 LBC.

July 2, 2026

1,825 videos

Largest named-channel flagged concentration on Odysee — 0 removed

Trajectory · Fifth Reading

Self-Stake Fifth Reading — @CosmicEvent Alone Holds 2,100,080 LBC Across Twelve Round-Number Six-Figure Stakes, the Largest Single-Channel Self-Stake Concentration on the Platform

Fifth measurement. @CosmicEvent has parked 2,100,080 LBC on twelve videos — eleven at exactly 100,000 LBC and one at exactly 1,000,000 LBC — all antisemitic / anti-Israel / COVID-conspiracy titles, all still 'Under Review', none actioned. We confirmed the 1,000,000-LBC and 100,000-LBC positions live against Odysee's own claim_search API on publication day. Platform-wide there are now 30 flagged items staked at exact multiples of 100,000 LBC; two are brand-new since the fourth reading (@OurFreeSociety, @StopTheCrime).

July 2, 2026

2,100,080 LBC

@CosmicEvent's 12 round-number stakes — biggest single-channel self-stake on Odysee

Follow-Up · Fortress Delta

@DollarVigilante Update — the 254-Video Fortress Grew to 440 Videos and 600,480 LBC, a 70% Expansion Since April Despite Public Documentation

In April we documented Jeff Berwick's @DollarVigilante at 254 flagged videos and 352,362 LBC. Ten weeks and one Article 16 notice later the channel has grown to 440 flagged videos and 600,480 LBC — +186 items, +248,118 LBC, ~70% larger. The top stake is now 'Planet Mind Control' at 207,000 LBC (live-confirmed against Odysee's API). Current severity: 59 Conspiracy, 5 Hate Speech, 1 Terrorism ('US Terrorist Attack on Nordstream Pipeline'), 1 Human Trafficking, 1 Extremism. The fortress didn't shrink after exposure. It compounded.

July 2, 2026

440 videos

Up from 254 — 600,480 LBC, +70% since April, 0 removed

Trajectory · Fourth Reading

Self-Stake Fourth Reading — 53 Channels, And Three New Single-Video Accounts That Fall Below The Analyser Threshold But Are The Cleanest Fingerprint Yet

Fourth measurement: 29 → 50 → 51 → 53. Pool grew +222K LBC in 16 days; Odysee's 5% take crossed a quarter-million LBC. The newest entries don't show in the count — three brand-new channels (@anonyme, @III, @uniónhispanoamericana) each posted exactly one video and staked exactly 100,000 LBC on it; threshold is 3+ videos. Two are explicitly antisemitic ('Sumerian Swindle', French Holocaust-coded). Plus @OzFlor formally classified at 200K LBC on AI-world-government framing.

June 16, 2026

53 channels

Self-stake count formally — plus 3+ sub-threshold single-video stakes

State-Aligned Disinfo · Sanctions Exposure

@SouthFront on Odysee — 221 Items of EU-Sanctioned and OFAC-Designated Russian Military Disinformation, Still Live

SouthFront is on the EU's Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/350 list AND the US Treasury OFAC SDN list. Odysee hosts the channel with 221 flagged items and 18,145 LBC tipped — pure Russian war propaganda titles ('Moscow Crushes Zelensky's Truce Theater', 'Russia's Surge In Military Production'). Distribution-prohibition in force; the platform processes the tip flow and takes its 5%.

June 2, 2026

221 items

EU CFSP 2022/350 + US OFAC SDN — hosted live

Designated Terrorism · EU+UK+FR+DE Exposure

@Alchimie on Odysee — 132 Items of French-Language Hezbollah Operational Propaganda, Including Mujahideen Communiqués and Martyrdom Announcements

Single French channel posting verbatim Hezbollah Resistance media — Mujahideen communiqués, Merkava tank destruction reports, Nasrallah martyrdom announcements — plus antisemitic 'Ben-Gvir is a nazi' framings. 128 of 132 items surfaced by the 2026-06-02 deep-sweep. Hezbollah is EU-listed terrorism (Council Decision 2024/1136) and UK-proscribed (Terrorism Act 2000 §3).

June 2, 2026

132 items

Hezbollah operational propaganda — biggest channel-velocity surge of the round

Multi-Channel Roundup · Deep-Sweep Yield

Channel Records — Five Unnamed Odysee Channels Holding 4,062 Flagged Videos and Half a Million LBC Between Them, Including a Comment-Section That Reads Like A Stormer Forum

@SaltyCracker (1,442 flagged, 394K LBC — record-holder), @RebelNews (1,124, 50K LBC, Canadian right-wing post-Stripe), @DrBerg (502, 24K LBC, FDA-warned chiropractor), @themastersvoiceprophecyblog (492 on a 168-day-old channel), and @iHypocrite — whose 'You Can't Stop Progress' series accounts for 10 of the top 15 videos in our comment_flags dataset with a Streicher-named commenter and a literal '1488 fuck jews' post.

June 2, 2026

4,062 videos

Across 5 newly-named channels — 484K LBC, ~24K LBC platform take

Methodology · Deep-Sweep Round Results

What The Deeper Sweep Surfaced — 5,506 New Flagged Items, 657 New Channels, And A 334-Item Terrorism Bump Including A Russian State-Aligned Channel And A French-Language Hezbollah Network

Re-running the scanner at MAX_PAGES=50 (vs default 10) against a keyword set expanded with 45 new 2026 terms (Tarrant/Gendron manifestos, Nordic Resistance Movement, Atomwaffen, Wagner, Hezbollah, biolab, denazification). Result: 98,588 → 104,094 items, +5,506 new, +657 channels, +334 Terrorism, +224 Hate Speech, +46 Threats, +31 Incitement, +1 CSAM (reported to NCMEC). Reproducibility narrative.

June 2, 2026

+5,506 items

Surfaced by MAX_PAGES=50 + 45 new 2026 keywords

Trajectory · Third Reading

Self-Stake Third Reading — The Count Saturated at 51 Channels, the LBC Pool Stabilised at 4.85M, the Martin Luther Antisemitism Stake Is Still Live

Third measurement: 29 (May 1) → 50 (May 13) → 51 (May 31). Total LBC pool 4,846,892. Odysee's 5% take ~242,345 LBC. The four anchor channels (@Unknown, @ChristinatheAstonishing, @neohumaneve, @thecrowhouse) remain parked, unactioned for the third consecutive reading. @louismarschalko's 100K-LBC Martin Luther antisemitism stake is still live. Four new entries: @PrivacyGuides, @amaterasusolar, @Qwinten, @thisworldworks.

May 31, 2026

51 channels

Saturation point — 4.85M LBC pool, ~242K LBC platform take

Channel Deep-Dive

@HighImpactFlix — 618 Flagged COVID-Denial and Vaccine-Injury Videos on a Single Odysee Channel, Zero Removals

Operating continuously since November 2020. 2,005 total claims; 618 flagged (29.9% flagged-share — top of the dataset); 81,560 LBC tip activity. Recurring genres: 'Self-Spreading Vaccines are REAL', 'Immediate Adverse Reaction', 'CON-vid-1984', Ghislaine/Trump conspiracy. Zero takedowns in 1,988 days.

May 31, 2026

618 videos

Flagged on one COVID-denial channel — 29.9% flagged-share, zero removed

Algorithm Capture

Someone Just Bought the #1 'Israel' Search Result on Odysee for 114,573 LBC — Three Days After the Stake Was Placed, the Placement Is Unchanged

A 2026-05-28 stake of 114,573 LBC on a @Trollcow-Archive vape-and-pyjama personal-branding video sits at #1 for the query 'israel'. The next four slots are 100K-LBC stakes each, three of them inflammatory Iran-Israel war framings (@CosmicEvent's 'Brother Nate explaining why Iran hasnt wiped Israel off the map'). For ~$1,500-$2,000 anyone can purchase the #1 ranking for any benign query.

May 31, 2026

114,573 LBC

Bought the #1 'israel' search result on a vape-pyjama video

Roundup · Named-Deplatformee Funnel

The Deplatformee Scoreboard — 15 of 20 Named-and-Banned-Elsewhere Creators Now Operate Channels on Odysee, Infowars Just Multiplied 13x, LeafyIsHere Arrived Four Months Ago

15/20 tracked deplatformees operate live Odysee channels. @Infowars went 3 → 39 flagged videos in 18 days (deliberate archive-upload campaign). LeafyIsHere (banned from YouTube Aug 2020 for harassment) arrived 118 days ago. Vincent James / Red Elephants holds 811 flagged videos on a single channel. The onboarding funnel is an operational feature, not a side effect.

May 31, 2026

15 of 20

Banned-elsewhere creators tracked, all live on Odysee

Structural Confirmation

The CEO Tips Himself — Jeremy Kauffman's @kauffj Has 88,232 LBC Parked on 29 Flagged Videos

Three near-identical stakes around 10,000 LBC each on apolitical vanity content ('a family haircut timelapse', 'Walk to Work 004: Status', 'A Present For LBRYians!'). The self-tip mechanism we've documented across three prior articles is operated by LBRY's own co-founder. 20.7% flagged-share — an order of magnitude above the platform mean.

May 31, 2026

88,232 LBC

Staked on 29 flagged videos on the founder's own handle

State-Media Refuge

Russia Today Opened Its Odysee Channel Four Days After Invading Ukraine — Today the Livestream Has 50,316 LBC Pinned On It

@RT was created on Odysee on 2022-02-28 — four days after Russia invaded Ukraine and the same week YouTube, Meta, Apple, the App Store, and the EU were cutting RT and Sputnik distribution. EU Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/351 distribution-prohibition still applies. The channel remains live. The livestream stake is 50,316.83 LBC.

May 31, 2026

50,316 LBC

Pinned on RT's livestream — CFSP 2022/351 still in force

Financial Isolation Timeline

Stripe Cut the Cord 15 Months Ago — Odysee Replaced It With a Self-Tipping Laundering Rail

In February 2025 Stripe formally ended its relationship with Odysee. The platform pivoted to USDC and LBC tips. 15 months later the self-stake fraud count tripled, Bannon and Molyneux opened fresh channels, and the platform's most-tipped neo-nazi podcast named Stripe by handle as the 'saboteur'.

May 30, 2026

15 months

Since Stripe walked — self-stake fraud has tripled

Named Deplatformee · Fresh Channel

Steve Bannon Has Three Channels on Odysee — 160 Flagged War Room Episodes, Zero Removals

@WarRoom (110 days old), @WarRoomShow (125 flagged videos), @SteveBannonsWarRoom (23 flagged videos). The newest is fresh from February 2026, fifteen months after Stripe left. The platform has no system that could know Bannon was banned from YouTube for calling for Fauci's beheading.

May 30, 2026

160 videos

Across 3 Bannon-network handles, 0 removed

Regulatory Compliance Failure

Zero — The Number of DSA Transparency Reports Odysee Has Ever Filed

EU DSA Article 15 requires every hosting provider serving EU users to publish a public transparency report on moderation activity. Odysee, with ~12M monthly visitors, has filed zero in the two years the obligation has been live. The European Commission's own DSA Transparency Database returns no results for Odysee, LBRY, or Forward Research.

May 30, 2026

0

DSA transparency reports filed in 2 years

Network Investigation · Criminal Exposure

The 1488 Network — 707 Neo-Nazi Videos Running Live on Odysee, Including a Channel That Staked Exactly 1,488 LBC On 'Jews Killed All The Animals'

Fourteen named channels, 707 flagged videos, 49,043 LBC of tip activity. Including @Duncan_Onzog's 1,488.00-LBC stake on an antisemitic blood-libel video — the LBC amount itself is the dog-whistle. Including @GLRYB2GD's 68 'White Supremacy 1488' uploads. Criminal under §130 StGB (Germany), Loi Gayssot (France), Public Order Act (UK).

May 30, 2026

707 videos

Across 14 mapped neo-nazi channels — 0 removed

Channel-Velocity Investigation

Banned in 2020, Re-spawned in 2026 — Stefan Molyneux's 60-Day-Old Odysee Channel Has 511 Flagged Videos

Channel-velocity scanner caught three Odysee accounts created since late 2025 that already host 1,035 flagged videos between them. Lead: Stefan Molyneux's @freedomain account, 60 days old, 511 videos including one self-titled 'BANNED FROM YOUTUBE! I REGRET NOTHING!'. Odysee's signup flow has zero friction for known re-banned identities.

May 13, 2026

1,035 videos

Across 3 channels created in the last 6 months

Follow-Up · Fresh Data

Self-Stake Update — 50 Channels Caught (Up From 29 in 12 Days)

Re-ran the same analyser two weeks after publication. Self-stake count went 29→50, total laundered LBC tripled to 4.68M, Odysee's 5% cut on the fake tips rose to ~234K LBC. New entries include a 1.34M-LBC anonymous 'WEF Covid criminal' anchor and a 100K-LBC stake on a Martin Luther 'On the Jews' video.

May 13, 2026

50 channels

Up from 29 — 4.68M LBC laundered, ~234K LBC in fees to Odysee

Cluster Investigation

The French Covid-Denial Network — Still Posting in 2026

@Vivresainement, @LeLibrePenseur, @SilvanoTrotta, @WakeUp, @neonews_fr — five French-language channels with 300+ flagged videos and fresh anti-vaccine uploads dated April 30, 2026. ARCOM hasn't acted. Odysee has zero multilingual moderation.

May 1, 2026

300+ videos

Across 5 channels still posting in 2026

Platform Mechanics Exposé

Self-Stake Fraud: 29 Channels Caught Tipping Themselves

Statistical concentration analysis caught 29 Odysee channels with 95-100% of LBC parked on a single video — the signature of self-staking. 1.43M LBC laundered. Odysee earns 5% with no KYC, no transparency report, no compliance function.

May 1, 2026

29 channels

Caught with statistically impossible tip concentration

Algorithm Audit

Search Drift — What Odysee Ranks #1 for 'Trans Healthcare'

In 24 hours the top result for 'trans healthcare' changed to 'SuicideGPT, Trans Genocide vs White Genocide'. The top result for 'vaccine' became outright denial. The algorithm is getting worse in real time.

April 23, 2026

5 of 20

Search queries whose #1 result changed in 24h

Weekly Scan Update

Weekly Scan — David Lane, 1488, and 11 Aryan Channels

A podcast series glorifying Order terrorist David E. Lane. A channel handle literally encoding 1488. 10 more Aryan uploads. First in a recurring weekly scan update.

April 23, 2026

12 channels

Neo-nazi channels surfaced in one week

Child Safety Investigation

Odysee's Brand-Branded Porn Network: @Porn, @girlsgonelbry, 41 Teen Titles

A channel literally called @Porn. Another using LBRY's own token as soft-porn branding. An anonymous 'Teen Blowjob' video. Filed to IWF and NCMEC on April 22, 2026.

April 22, 2026

41 videos

Using 'teen' in explicit sexual titles

Platform Mechanics Exposé

Pay-to-Rank: Odysee's Search Is For Sale

One video has 1,000,000 LBC staked on it. Fifteen more have 100,000+. Odysee's ranking algorithm is a crypto auction and extremists have bought the top.

April 22, 2026

1,000,000 LBC

Staked on one video to buy rank #1

Hate Speech Investigation

@ZionistReport: 146 Videos of Antisemitic Propaganda Branded as Reporting

A channel name that is a documented antisemitic dog-whistle. 146 live videos. Odysee has reviewed none of them.

April 22, 2026

146

Videos behind an antisemitic dog-whistle brand

Concentration Analysis

The Industrial Polluters: 20 Channels = 21% of Odysee's Flagged Content

2,025 of 9,769 flagged items come from 20 named channels. A weekend's work. Zero removals.

April 22, 2026

20.7%

Of all flagged content, just 20 channels

Channel Deep-Dive

@DollarVigilante's 254-Video Fortress: One Channel, 352,362 LBC, Seven Years Live

YouTube removed Jeff Berwick because people were dying from his content. Odysee gave him a home and took 5% of his tips.

April 22, 2026

352,362 LBC

Staked on one conspiracy channel

Platform Design Investigation

The Anonymous Upload Pipeline: 375 Videos, No Named Channel, 203,881 LBC

Odysee lets anyone publish with no attributed channel. White-nationalist trailers, teen-titled porn, no uploader to suspend.

April 22, 2026

375

Flagged videos with no accountable author

Foreign-Language Hate Speech

Odysee's Holocaust Denial Network: Faurisson, Reynouard, Zündel

French, Spanish, and neo-nazi music channels hide behind a language barrier Odysee's four employees can't read.

April 22, 2026

3

Named convicted deniers, one video

Public Health Investigation

The Medical Misinformation Machine: One Channel, 38 Videos, 97,730 LBC

'CoVAIDS,' hydroxychloroquine cures, germ theory denial — and Odysee takes 5% of every tip

April 20, 2026

97,730 LBC

Tipped to one channel's 38 videos

Hate Speech Investigation

Odysee's Antisemitism Hub: Holocaust Denial, 'The Jewish Question,' and @Holocaust_Rejection_Videos

12 Holocaust denial videos, 15 'Jewish Question' videos, monetized Nazi propaganda in 4 languages

April 20, 2026

4 languages

Monetized Nazi propaganda

Content Safety Investigation

Odysee's Porn Problem: 62 Videos, 'Teen' Titles, and LBRY Branded on Bodies

The platform bans pornography. We found 30 dedicated porn channels and titles that demand law enforcement referral.

April 20, 2026

62 videos

On a platform that bans pornography

Platform Analysis

The YouTube Dumping Ground: 162 Banned Videos Find a Home

Alex Jones, Sneako, LeafyIsHere — banned from YouTube, monetized on Odysee

April 20, 2026

162

YouTube-banned videos rehomed

Harassment Analysis

The Doxxing Layer: How 'Free Speech' Enables Targeted Attacks

163 attack videos, 20 repeat-offender channels, and harassment disguised as whistleblowing

April 20, 2026

163

Attack videos, 20 repeat offenders

Victim Case Study

84 Videos, Zero Action: Odysee Sided With a Convicted Defamer Over His Victim

False accusations of child trafficking. Images of his children. Odysee reviewed it all and said 'no violation.'

April 20, 2026

84 videos

Reviewed, ruled 'no violation'

Leadership Exposé

The Saboteur CEO: How Kauffman Threatened to Destroy His Own Platform

Sabotage threats, CEO fired for pushing back, 'Fuck the SEC' t-shirt, $11M in illegal securities

April 20, 2026

$11M

SEC settlement, unregistered securities

Financial Investigation

Follow the Money: The Undisclosed Millions Behind Arweave's Opaque Empire

No purchase price. No wallet transparency. A 97% collapse. LBC holders abandoned. The financial trail nobody can audit.

April 20, 2026

97%

LBC token collapse since acquisition

Deep Investigation

Sam Williams & Forward Research: Centralized Control, Community Betrayal

Arweave's founder preaches decentralization while acquiring extremist platforms, threatening builders, and dumping on holders

April 20, 2026

$22M

Raised from a16z, USV, Coinbase Ventures

Profiles in Negligence

Odysee's Most Wanted: Fugitives, Terrorists, and Predators

Named profiles of the extremists Odysee knowingly hosts and monetizes

April 20, 2026

$33K

Earned by a wanted Charlottesville fugitive

User Experience Exposé

1.4 Stars, 99.9% Token Crash, and a Platform Nobody Can Use

Trustpilot reviews, worthless cryptocurrency, broken apps, and deleted creator accounts

April 20, 2026

1.4★

Trustpilot rating

Technical Exposé

The Decentralization Lie: Blockchain Theater and Broken Promises

An insider exposes how Odysee fools its users with fake decentralization while controlling everything

April 20, 2026

0

Genuinely decentralised components

Corporate Exposé

4 Employees, 12 Million Visitors, Zero Moderation

Inside the skeleton crew running one of the internet's most toxic platforms

April 20, 2026

4 employees

For 12M monthly visitors

Financial Investigation

The Extremism Tax: How Odysee Profits From Hate

1.13 million LBC in tips, a 5% platform fee, and zero enforcement

April 20, 2026

56,367 LBC

Platform fees on tips to hate content

Data Analysis

Non-English Content Gets 9x More Views — And Zero Oversight

French and German extremist content thrives because Odysee can't read it

April 20, 2026

8.9×

More views on French flagged content

Data Investigation

11.5 Million Views and Counting: Odysee's Moderation Black Hole

100% of flagged content is still live. Here's what the view counts reveal.

April 20, 2026

11.5M

Views on flagged content, 100% still live