Journalist Alarmed When He’s Fired, But Company Keeps…

In early 2026, freelance writer Ben Touati discovered that his former employer, ClickOut Media, was continuing to publish low-quality articles under his byline despite having terminated his contract. The situation highlighted the growing trend of publishers utilizing automated systems to impersonate former staff and maintain content output without human involvement.

What happened

After being fired from ClickOut Media's German operation due to claims of insufficient work and site de-indexing, Touati noticed five new articles appearing under his name. He described the content as lazy and obviously AI-generated, noting that it fell far below the professional standards he maintained during his tenure. During his employment, which began in early 2024, Touati had faced consistent pressure from management to incorporate AI into his writing process, including being shown instructional videos on how to humanize AI-generated text. Despite his resistance, the company continued to push for AI adoption across various outlets like Techopedia and Esports Insider. Following his termination, the company initially provided a vague statement claiming to use AI-assisted content with human checks, failing to address the unauthorized use of his identity. Touati eventually took action by leveraging the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to file a claim against ClickOut Media for the misuse of his personal information. This legal pressure forced the company to remove his name from the articles, which were subsequently reattributed to a different writer's byline.