Tracing the Disinformation Behind Cal Coast News’ Karen Velie’s Lies

It started on the evening of October 3.

Out of the blue, people I didn’t know were reaching out to me on Facebook Messenger, expressing concern for my safety. My phone was buzzing with notifications from people I never knew, people I never met, tagging me in seemingly random conversations taking place on a local news media’s Facebook page. I assured them I was fine, everything was quiet — well, actually peaceful — on my end.

So what’s going on?