Colin Lecher

Investigative Reporter

Colin Lecher is a reporter based in New York. His work on technology and society has received honors from the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Deadline Club, the Radio Television Digital News Association, and more.

Before joining The Markup, he was a senior reporter with The Verge. There, he reported on issues like automated cuts to healthcare, access to phone services in prisons, and the online gun market.

colin@themarkup.org @colinlecher

Illustration of the side profiles of four people: a bearded person wearing glasses, a person with curly hair, a person wearing a hijab, and a person with short brown hair; the person wearing a hijab is drawn with a white dotted outline and is transparent, unlike the other three people.

Automated Censorship

Demoted, Deleted, and Denied: There’s More Than Just Shadowbanning on Instagram

An investigation by The Markup found that the platform demoted images of the Israel–Hamas war, deleted captions without warning, and denied users the option to appeal

February 25, 2024 08:00 ET

Photograph of several people wearing neon vests walking down a street at night; on the side there is a shopping cart filled with clothes and bags

Impact

L.A. Is Changing How It Scores “Vulnerability” of Unhoused People

An investigation by The Markup sparked demands for answers

February 15, 2024 08:00 ET

Digital illustration of the words “Gentle January” over a field of pixelated flowers; in the right-hand corner there is the number “4” placed on a stack of post-its

Gentle January

Lock Down Your Accounts with Extra Authentication

Two-factor logins add security beyond your password

January 8, 2024 08:00 ET

A children’s book style illustration of a child reading a textbook online, as a scary monster sucks up all her browser history, simulating the way the online trackers on popular kids websites quietly suck up identifying information about youth.

Pixel Hunt

Facebook Watches Teens Online As They Prep for College

An investigation by The Markup found Meta’s pixel tracking students from kindergarten to college

November 22, 2023 05:00 ET

Image of U.S. President Joe Biden seated at a desk, passing a pen to Vice President Kamala Harris, who is standing. The background screen shows the words 'Artificial Intelligence' with the subheading 'Safety, Security, and Trust' displayed prominently.

News

The Problems Biden’s AI Order Must Address

The Markup gives a section-by-section breakdown of the summarized executive order on artificial intelligence

November 1, 2023 14:57 ET

Digital illustration of an exhausted female nurse sleeping at her desk. On top of her there are vignettes of her doing various activities including replacing an IV bag, running, giving a patient a cup of water, working at a computer and injecting someone’s arm with a needle.

Working for an Algorithm

What Happens When Nurses Are Hired Like Ubers

“You basically just hope that nothing goes wrong,” a nurse said about a shift with the app Clipboard

October 5, 2023 08:00 ET

Hello World

Three Class Action Lawsuits Follow Markup Pixel Investigations

Our investigative series on Facebook trackers continues to have impact

September 30, 2023 08:00 ET

Pixel Hunt

FTC Warns Tax Prep Companies Against Invasive Online Tracking

Sharing private information could lead to penalties, agency says after Markup investigation

September 19, 2023 13:13 ET

Photograph of Senator Elizabeth Warren at a podium. She is wearing glasses and a blue blazer.

Pixel Hunt

Congressional Report Finds Meta and Tax Prep Companies “Recklessly” Shared Taxpayers’ Data

The investigation was opened in response to work published last year by The Markup

July 12, 2023 05:00 ET

Digital illustration of a photo collage, with various vignettes of maps. There are shadows of a person hunched over and leaning against a wall.

The Government Has a Controversial Idea to Track Mental Health Crisis Calls

Why the national 988 hotline may start pinpointing callers

June 24, 2023 08:00 ET

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