Destroying Autocracy – May 01, 2025

Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.

It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting it. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.

DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.

FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.

Happy May Day! Cast off your chains.

Featured Item(s)

Cory Doctorow writes:

The point of AI isn’t to make workers more productive, it’s to make them weaker when they bargain with their bosses.

Tech workers are workers, and they once held the line against enshittification, refusing to break the things they’d built for their bosses in meaningless all-nighters motivated by vocational awe. Long after tech bosses were able to buy all their competitors, capture their regulators, and expand IP law to neutralize the threat of innovative, interoperable products like alternative app stores, ad-blockers and jailbreaking kits, tech workers held the line.

There’ve been half a million US tech layoff since 2023. Tech workers’ scarcity-derived power has been vaporized. Tech workers can avoid the fate of the factory, warehouse and delivery workers their bosses literally work to death — but only by unionizing.

In other words, the workers in re-shored factories and tech workers need the same thing. They are class allies — and tech bosses are their class enemies. This is class war.

The enshittification of tech jobs

We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.

The response to Russia’s War Crimes, TechnoFeudalism, and other douchebaggery

Tech Policy reports:

Labor Unions Can Counterbalance the Big Tech Oligarchy, But Only If They Rediscover Their Power

Expats Czechia reports:

Court rules that Czechia collects phone data illegally in landmark decision

Mashable reports:

Elon Musk’s X lost 11 million users in the EU over the past 5 months

The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:

Calyx Institute: A Case Study in Grassroots Innovation

EFF Leads Prominent Security Experts in Urging Trump Administration to Leave Chris Krebs Alone

EuroNews reports:

EU governments discuss action on disinformation over climate policy

Bleeping Computer reports:

TikTok fined €530 million for sending European user data to China

Fast Company reports:

How Big Tech’s Faustian bargain with Trump backfired

Framablog has:

Docilités numériques

The Verge reports:

A judge just blew up Apple’s control of the App Store

The Register reports:

Cook’d: Judge says Apple lied to court in Epic case, asks Feds to mull criminal charges

Double awesome.

TechCrunch reports:

Apple changes US App Store rules to let apps link to external payment systems

Neutral

The Register reports:

DARPA to ‘radically’ rev up mathematics research. And yes, with AI

The Journal of Online Trust and Safety has:

Science and Causality in Technology Litigation

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

TechDirt has:

Government Actually Threatens Wikipedia’s Editorial Freedom; Self-Proclaimed Free Speech Warriors Suddenly Have Other Plans

Congress Moving Forward On Unconstitutional Take It Down Act

Ars Technica reports:

Trump’s hasty Take It Down Act has “gaping flaws” that threaten encryption

Micah Flee looks at:

TM SGNL, the obscure unofficial Signal app Mike Waltz uses to text with Trump officials

The Register reports:

DOGE may help Elon Musk’s biz empire dodge $2.4B in liabilities – Senate probe

Framablog looks at:

L’État artificiel : la vie civique automatisée

Pariah States

BleepingComputer reports:

France ties Russian APT28 hackers to 12 cyberattacks on French orgs

Pro-Russia hacktivists bombard Dutch public orgs with DDoS attacks

DarkReading has:

Putin’s Cyberattacks on Ukraine Rise 70%, With Little Effect

Adversaries Are Toying With US Networks & DC Is Short on Answers

Billbug Expands Cyber-Espionage Campaign in Southeast Asia

The Register reports:

China now America’s number one cyber threat – US must get up to speed

Open source text editor poisoned with malware to target Uyghur users

Big Media

NPR reports:

Corporation for Public Broadcasting sues Trump after he tries to fire board members

Ars Technica reports:

“Blatantly unlawful”: Trump slammed for trying to defund PBS, NPR

The Daily Beast reports:

MAGA Billionaire Leads L.A. Times to Lose $50 Million

Ars Technica reports:

CBS owner Paramount reportedly intends to settle Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit

Big Tech

Semafor reports:

The group chats that changed America

The Guardian reports:

Meta faces Ghana lawsuits over impact of extreme content on moderators

Meta slowest to remove scam content, says City watchdog

TechCrunch reports:

Report finds Meta’s celebrity-voiced chatbots could discuss sex with minors

OpenAI is fixing a ‘bug’ that allowed minors to generate erotic conversations

404 Media has:

Researchers Secretly Ran a Massive, Unauthorized AI Persuasion Experiment on Reddit Users

Mbin or PieFed, peeps.

Reddit Issuing ‘Formal Legal Demands’ Against Researchers Who Conducted Secret AI Experiment on Users

This Is Palantir’s Justification for Building ICE’s Master Database

Instagram’s AI Chatbots Lie About Being Licensed Therapists

The Markup reports:

Kids should avoid AI companion bots—under force of law, assessment says

The Center for Democracy and Technology reports:

Report – In Deep Trouble: Surfacing Tech-Powered Sexual Harassment in K-12 Schools

Cybersecurity/Privacy

Lawfare covers:

Advancing Secure by Design through Security Research

404 Media reports:

The Age of Realtime Deepfake Fraud Is Here

The Markup reports:

How California sent residents’ personal health data to LinkedIn

BleepingComputer reports:

Hackers ramp up scans for leaked Git tokens and secrets

FBI shares massive list of 42,000 LabHost phishing domains

Tech Policy Press reports:

Reverse Keyword Search Warrants and the Threat to Online Privacy

The Jacobin reports:

Big Tech Wants Free Rein to Sell Your Data

Fediverse

The Fediverse Report has:

Fediverse Report – #114

Fosstodon has more on its drama:

An Intro/Update From Gina

ActivityPub for WordPress announces:

V5.8.0 – If it’s on the Fediverse, you can embed it.

ActivityPods shares:

Key learnings from building social apps with ActivityPods

Forgejo has:

Forgejo monthly update – April 2025

The Social Web Foundation has:

Steps Forward in Long-form Text

Mastodon is:

Evolving the Team

Matthew Tift has:

Finding an Ethical Path Through Social Media: Why I Choose Mastodon

PieFed has:

PieFed development update Apr 2025 – S3, OAuth, Federation retry queue, Stripe

NodeBB has:

NodeBB v4.3.0 — Remote Categories are a go!

Other Slightly Federated Social Media

WinBuzzer reports:

Bluesky’s Decentralized Network Faces Major Outage Caused by Centralized Servers

The Internet Review asks:

Where Does Bluesky Go from Here? What is the Bluesky of 2036?

CTAs (aka show us some free love)

• That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
• Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.

Keep fighting!

Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse

#114 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProtocol #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Mastodon #NodeBB #PieFed #StopChina #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #WordPress

https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1772

Destroying Autocracy – April 24, 2025

Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.

It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting it. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.

DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.

FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.

Featured Item(s)

The Guardian shares:

In her final piece for the Observer, Carole Cadwalladr reveals what happened when she returned last week to give the opening speech at technology conference Ted, where she gave her first – life-changing – talk six years ago.

It’s not too late to stop Trump and the tech broligarchy from controlling our lives, but we must act now

TechDirt writes:

There’s a certain dark irony in watching tech billionaires who built their empires on the “democratizing power of technology” now actively working to dismantle democratic institutions. The same figures who once championed connection and openness are now the architects of the most dangerous centralization of power in modern history.

The “De” In “Decentralization” Stands For “Democracy”

The issues discussed in these two items are some of the main reasons Battalion and the TechnoAnarchist Manifesto exist.

We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.

The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

The Kyiv Independent reports:

Switzerland joins EU sanctions against Russian state media

Bleeping Computer reports:

Russian army targeted by new Android malware hidden in mapping app

TheNewStack reports:

EU OS: A European Proposal for a Public Sector Linux Desktop

The Register reports:

It takes one click to join Uber One, but quitting might need 32 actions

European biz calls for Euro tech for local people

Tech Policy reports:

Understanding the Apple and Meta Non-Compliance Decisions Under the Digital Markets Act

How AI Can Support Democracy Movements

A good article, though long. And Erica, search the term headings and learn how to use them!

EuroNews reports:

In his final months, Pope Francis warned about social media, screen time, and AI

NLNet shares:

Eleven new projects for NGI Pilots

CBS News reports:

Federal judge orders Trump administration to rehire all Voice of America and Radio Free Asia staff

Ars Technica reports:

Universities (finally) band together, fight “unprecedented government overreach”

Gaël Duval has:

Murena & /e/OS 2025: another leap towards Usable Privacy for All

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

Propublica reports:

Trump Team Eyes Politically Connected Startup to Overhaul $700 Billion Government Payments Program

Krebs on Security reports:

Whistleblower: DOGE Siphoned NLRB Case Data

NiemanLab reports:

National Science Foundation cancels research grants related to misinformation and disinformation

The Center for Democracy and Technology reports:

Automated Tools for Social Media Monitoring Irrevocably Chill Millions of Noncitizens’ Expression

Pariah States

DarkReading reports:

Nation-State Threats Put SMBs in Their Sights

DeepSeek Breach Opens Floodgates to Dark Web

BleepingComputer reports:

Hackers abuse OAuth 2.0 workflows to hijack Microsoft 365 accounts

Lazarus hackers breach six companies in watering hole attacks

Big Media

404 Media reports:

How 404 Media Is Navigating ‘Economic Headwinds’

Or small media in this case. You should subscribe to 404 if you’re in the tech sector.

Big Tech

The Guardian reports:

Meta ‘hastily’ changed moderation policy with little regard to impact, says oversight board

Tech Policy reports on:

Big Tech, Bolsonarism, and the Erosion of Democracy

Where’s Your Ed opines:

OpenAI Is A Systemic Risk To The Tech Industry

Mozilla says:

Tell Etsy, Reddit, Tinder & Duolingo: Stop Feeding Surveillance Tech

Cybersecurity/Privacy

BleepingComputer has:

Phishers abuse Google OAuth to spoof Google in DKIM replay attack

WordPress ad-fraud plugins generated 1.4 billion ad requests per day

The Register reports:

RIP, Google Privacy Sandbox

Ex-NSA chief warns AI devs: Don’t repeat infosec’s early-day screwups

Nextcloud says:

EU-US Data Privacy Framework is defunct: what does this mean for businesses?

CyberNews reports:

Employee monitoring app leaks 21 million screenshots in real time

Ha! You reap what you sow.

Fediverse

The Fediverse Report has:

Fediverse Report – #113

Tim Bray looks at:

Decentralizing Schemes

Fedihost asks:

Why Is Mastodon Using So Much Storage?

Jose Murilo shares:

A rede social que não pode ser vendida: porque Mastodon, e não Bluesky.

TechCrunch reports:

Threads officially moves to Threads.com and updates its web app

So, block threads.com.

Meta’s Threads opens up ads to global advertisers

To the surprise of no one.

Other Slightly Federated Social Media

And:

Bluesky launches blue check verification

Government censorship comes to Bluesky, but not its third-party apps … yet

Wait, how did a decentralized service like Bluesky go down?

Because it’s not fucking decentralized.

CTAs (aka show us some free love)

• That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
• Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.

Keep fighting!

Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse

#113 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProtocol #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Mastodon #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #Threads

https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1752

Destroying Autocracy – April 17, 2025

Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.

It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting it. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.

DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.

FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.

Featured Item

Elena Rossini writes:

We are in the throes of a digital coup. And Big Tech’s deep pockets and large ad spending have been building – for 2 decades now – the illusion that in order to be seen and heard online, to make an impact through writing, one needs to use their centralized platforms. Because “they are the only way.”

I completely disagree. I remain all in when it comes to the Fediverse and FOSS publishing solutions. With this post, I hope I can show you that another way is possible.

This is what resistance to the digital coup looks like

We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.

The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

The Register reports:

EU gives staff ‘burner phones, laptops’ for US visits

Ireland opens probe into Musk’s X over Grok’s AI data slurp

Palo Alto Online reports:

Silicon Valley crosswalk buttons apparently hacked to imitate Musk, Zuckerberg voices

The Japan Times:

In a first, Japan issues cease-and-desist order against Google

The Guardian reports:

Google sued for £5bn in UK over allegations of shutting out rivals

TechCrunch reports:

Judge rules Google illegally monopolized adtech, opening door to potential breakup

The Nation shares:

I’ve Worked at Google for Decades. I’m Sickened by What It’s Doing.

The Next Web reports:

Trump tariffs reignite Europe’s push for cloud sovereignty

Dark Reading reports:

Threat Intel Firm Offers Crypto in Exchange for Dark Web Accounts

Ars Technica reports:

Harvard says no chance it will comply with changes feds demand

Speaking of, Harvard shares:

Understanding DOGE and Your Data

The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:

Privacy on the Map: How States Are Fighting Location Surveillance

Tech Policy reports on:

The Need for and Pathways to AI Regulatory and Technical Interoperability

Cory Doctorow has:

Mark Zuckerberg personally lost the Facebook antitrust case

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:

Florida’s New Social Media Bill Says the Quiet Part Out Loud and Demands an Encryption Backdoor

Florida has long been America’s laboratory for fascism.

MIT Technology Review reports:

DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data

NPR reports:

A whistleblower’s disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data

404 Media reports:

The AI Tools CBP Is Using to Scan Social Media

ICE Just Paid Palantir Tens of Millions for ‘Complete Target Analysis of Known Populations’

This ‘College Protester’ Isn’t Real. It’s an AI-Powered Undercover Bot for Cops

Pariah States

Bleeping Computer reports:

Russian hackers attack Western military mission using malicious drive

Midnight Blizzard deploys new GrapeLoader malware in embassy phishing

The Register reports:

Hacktivism resurges – but don’t be fooled, it’s often state-backed goons in masks

Chinese snoops use stealth RAT to backdoor US orgs – still active last week

Tech Policy reports:

China’s Anti-Sanctions Rules Raise Human Rights Risks for Global Tech Firms

DarkReading reports:

Chinese APT Mustang Panda Debuts 4 New Attack Tools

TechCrunch reports:

NSO lawyer names Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan as spyware customers accused of 2019 WhatsApp hacks

Big Media

Poynter reports:

Audiences are still skeptical about generative AI in the news

Big Tech

Tech Policy reports:

How Information Asymmetry Inhibits Efforts for Big Tech Accountability

Cory Doctorow has:

Tesla accused of hacking odometers to weasel out of warranty repairs

If you own a swasticar, you almost deserve this.

Zuckerberg in the dock

Ars Technica reports:

Zuckerberg’s 2012 email dubbed “smoking gun” at Meta monopoly trial

BleepingComputer reports:

Meta to resume AI training on content shared by Europeans

TechCrunch reports:

Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk would like to ‘delete all IP law’

The Guardian reports:

‘Silicon Six’ accused of avoiding almost $278bn in US corporation taxes over 10 years

Terror

The Guardian reports:

Fears over extremism in US military as soldier revealed as neo-Nazi TikTok follower

Cybersecurity/Privacy

Reuters reports:

Cybersecurity industry falls silent as Trump turns ire on SentinelOne

The Register reports:

CVE program gets last-minute funding from CISA – and maybe a new home

BleepingComputer reports:

Chrome 136 fixes 20-year browser history privacy riskws/security/chrome-136-fixes-20-year-browser-history-privacy-risk/)

Don’t use Chrome is the easiest fix. Librewolf peeps.

Tech Republic reports:

Windows 11 Forces Microsoft Account Sign In & Removes Bypass Trick Option

This is further validation that my next computer will come with linux preinstalled.

The Record reports:

US to sign Pall Mall pact aimed at countering spyware abuses

Fediverse

The Fediverse Report has:

Fediverse Report – #112

The Nexus of Privacy reports:

On FediForum (and not just FediForum)

Framablog shares its:

2025 PeerTube Roadmap!

Hong Minhee says:

Ditch the DIY Drama: Why To Use Fedify Instead of Building ActivityPub from Scratch?

Netz Politik has:

Hochschulen aller Länder ins Fediverse!

DeadSuperHero explores:

Integrating a News Publication Into the Fediverse

I’ve done the same with this website and the Symfony Station newsletter, and it’s definitely hacky.

Ghost is:

Recapping your feedback

Rob Shearer has:

Mastodon Exit Interview

This is a bit harsh, but does have some fair points.

Other Slightly Federated Social Media

Ben Werdmuller shares:

If I ran Bluesky Product

The Fediverse Report has:

Bluesky, censorship and country-based moderation

We deleted our Bluesky account. It just doesn’t do it for us. It’s a half-shit Twitter. And Twitter was always shit.

The Bluesky Report – 112

CTAs (aka show us some free love)

• That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
• Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.

Keep fighting!

Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse

#112 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProtocol #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Ghost #Mastodon #Peertube #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine

https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1724

Destroying Autocracy – April 10, 2025

Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.

It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting it. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.

DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.

FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.

Featured Item

Hamish Campbell writes:

We need to build a grassroots counterforce, grounded in the principles of the 4 opens, to cultivate digital and physical spaces of resistance. The openweb offers us a framework for doing this, a messy, imperfect garden where we plant alternatives and nurture them with care. But it only grows if people use it. We need joined-up thinking, not the fractured, piecemeal approach of the fashernista crowd. We need people to commit to using and building tools outside the corporate silos, even when it’s inconvenient. Because in the end our communities are all that matters, in the end every click, every post, every conversation shapes the landscape we inhabit.

The rise of fascism and the openweb response

This approach is a very large part of techno-anarchism.

We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.

The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

DevLink Tips shares:

Top 10 European Open-Source Projects to Watch in 2025

Tech Policy reports:

Understanding the EU’s Digital Services Act Enforcement Against X

Leveraging International Standards to Protect US Consumers Online, No Congress Required

EuroNews reports:

TikTok made changes ahead of re-run of Romanian election, says EU tech chief
EU Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen speaking at a European Parliament plenary session.

The Register reports:

EU may target US tech giants in tariff response

The Guardian reports:

US authors’ copyright lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft combined in New York with newspaper actions

The BBC reports:

Apple’s encryption row with UK should not be secret, court rules

CTV News reports:

Halifax to phase out use of X as official social media platform

Great news from one of my favorite cities.

Neutral

Rest of the World reports:

What we learned from tracking AI use in global elections

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

So-called newspaper, The New York Times reports:

Trump Weakens U.S. Cyberdefenses at a Moment of Rising Danger

Mother Jones reports:

The Shocking Far-Right Agenda Behind the Facial Recognition Tech Used by ICE and the FBI

Reuters reports:

Exclusive: Musk’s DOGE using AI to snoop on U.S. federal workers, sources say

The Guardian reports:

Under Trump and Musk, billionaires wield unprecedented influence over US national security

UK creating ‘murder prediction’ tool to identify people most likely to kill

Citation Needed reports:

Issue 81 – Crypto crime is legal

Jesus.

Pariah States

Bit Defender reports:

Russian bots hard at work spreading political unrest on Romania’s internet

Ars Technica reports:

“The girl should be calling men.” Leak exposes Black Basta’s influence tactics.

DarkReading reports:

China-Linked Hackers Continue Harassing Ethnic Groups With Spyware

TechCrunch reports:

Governments identify dozens of Android apps bundled with spyware

Court document reveals locations of WhatsApp victims targeted by NSO spyware

Big Media

Tech Policy reports:

Independent Media Has an Infrastructural Problem

DigiDay reports:

Former Substack creators say they’re earning more on new platforms that offer larger shares of subscription revenue

Big Tech

Speaking of, Snopes reports:

Historian Heather Cox Richardson said Facebook removed her posts. Here’s what we know

My advice to her is to get the fuck off Facebook and get the fuck off Substack.

The Register reports:

Apple settles unfair labor charges brought by fired engineering manager

Ars Technica reports:

Meta secretly helped China advance AI, ex-Facebooker will tell Congress

404 Media has:

‘Careless People’ Is the Book About Facebook I’ve Wanted for a Decade

The Guardian reports:

Meta faces £1.8bn lawsuit over claims it inflamed violence in Ethiopia

The Dair Institute reports:

Social Media Platforms Are Spreading Violent Warmongering Content Encouraging All-Out War Between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Again

Jeremy Keith has:

Denial

Nothing personal, but it you use LLMs, you are contributing to this c^ntitry.

Terror

The Kyiv Independent reports:

US neo-Nazi terrorist group pays recruits to carry out attacks in Ukraine, Guardian reports

Mother Jones reports:

Gabbard’s Pick to Run Counterterrorism Center Aided Start of a Right-Wing Paramilitary Group

Cybersecurity/Privacy

Bleeping Computer reports:

Malicious VSCode extensions infect Windows with cryptominers

The Register reports:

That massive GitHub supply chain attack? It all started with a stolen SpotBugs token

If you are using Microsoft software, you almost deserve this.

Clubic reports:

Surveillance, fin du chiffrement : Proton pourrait quitter la Suisse

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announces:

OCC Notifies Congress of Incident Involving Email System

Consumer Reports has:

Mixed Signals: Many Companies May Be Ignoring Opt-Out Requests Under State Privacy Laws

Fediverse

The Fediverse Report has:

Fediverse Report – #111

IFTAS is:

[Staying the Course: Our Continuing Mission]
(https://about.iftas.org/2025/04/08/staying-the-course-our-continuing-mission/)

If you care about the Fediverse, please join me and make a financial contribution to IFTAS.

Mastodon shares:

Trunk & Tidbits, March 2025

CogDogBlog has:

WordPress Serving Posts at the Activity Pub

Tim Bray looks at:

The CoSocialist Future

Ghost has:

You think you’re following us, but you might not be

TechCrunch reports:

Tapestry’s app can now de-dupe your social feeds

CTAs (aka show us some free love)

• That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
• Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
• Or follow Battalion on Bluesky.

Keep fighting!

Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse

#111 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProtocol #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Ghost #Mastodon #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #Tapestry

https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1716

Destroying Autocracy – April 3, 2025

Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.

It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting it. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.

DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.

FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.

Featured Item

Heydonworks shares:

Poisoning Well

AI can’t do spite. 😈

We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.

The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

The Kyiv Independent reports:

Moscow Metro website displays appeal from recently hacked Ukrainian Railways

The Register reports:

Ukraine’s techies a ‘pillar of support’ for national economy after Russian invasion

EuroNews reports:

Help us develop non-English/Chinese AI models, Japan asks EU

French antitrust watchdog fines Apple €150 million over data collection tool

Google’s AI feature on hold in most EU member states due to ‘strict rules’

The Reframe has:

1 Year After Substack

404 Media reports:

Open Source Genetic Database Shuts Down to Protect Users From ‘Authoritarian Governments’

Big Tech Backed Trump for Acceleration. They Got a Decel President Instead.

This would be funny if it only impacted these c^nts.

Reuters reports:

Elon Musk must face fraud lawsuit over disclosure of Twitter stake

He’s not allowed to fuck over rich people.

Tech Policy reports:

As Brazil Seeks to Enforce Competition Law Against Digital Platforms, Here’s What it Could Learn from the EU

The UK announces:

Foreign Influence Registration Scheme implementation

Gaël Duval shares:

Practical Payment Solutions for Murena and /e/OS Users

That’s surveillance and Google-free Android if you aren’t familiar.

Geo Coop reports:

Worker-Owned News Outlets Are Changing the Media Industry

The Wrap has:

In Praise of Laurene Powell Jobs, Owner of The Atlantic, Superhero of Signalgate

The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:

Judge Rejects Government’s Attempt to Dismiss EFF Lawsuit Against OPM, DOGE, and Musk

Neutral

The Guardian reports:

Data protection bill leaves room for governmental abuse, campaigners warn

Open Source Initiative reports on:

Overcoming barriers to Open Source procurement in the European Union

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

TechDirt reports:

The Real Cost Of DOGE: Musk’s Government Cuts Creating Massive New Expenses

NBC News reports:

Denied, deported, detained: U.S. border incidents have travelers thinking twice

The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:

Site-Blocking Legislation Is Back. It’s Still a Terrible Idea.

The Next Web reports:

European tech warns Trump tariffs will hit both hardware and software

Pariah States

The Next Web reports:

The day a Russian missile hit a Ukrainian tech giant

BleepingComputer reports:

North Korean hackers adopt ClickFix attacks to target crypto firms

The Register reports:

North Korea’s fake tech workers now targeting European employers

DarkReading reports:

Israel Enters ‘Stage 3’ of Cyber Wars With Iran Proxies

The Verge reports:

Microsoft employee disrupts 50th anniversary and calls AI boss ‘war profiteer’

Big Media

Tech Policy reports on:

Technology, Democracy, and Power: Journalism’s Role in a Time of Crisis

The Guardian reports:

‘I can’t cope with it any more’: newsrooms scramble to retain audiences amid the big switch-off

Big Tech

Tech Policy reports:

Where Does Trump’s Takeover of the FTC Leave the Regulation of Big Tech?

Practically non-existent.

Robots.txt Is Having a Moment: Here’s Why We Should Care

The Verge reports:

It’s the moment of truth for Zuckerberg’s Trump bet

Epicenter reports:

EU Commission Undermines eIDAS Protections, again!

Pivot to AI reports:

AI in the enterprise is failing over twice as fast in 2025 as it was in 2024

Cybersecurity/Privacy

The Register reports:

UK threatens £100K-a-day fines under new cyber bill

BleepingComputer reports:

CISA warns of Fast Flux DNS evasion used by cybercrime gangs

DarkReading reports:

Minnesota Tribe Struggles After Ransomware Attack

Fediverse

The Fediverse Report has:

Fediverse Report – #110

We Distriube reports:

FediForum Has Been Canceled

TechCrunch reports:

A new security fund opens up to help protect the fediverse

Emelia Smith has:

Open-source tools needed for the future of decentralized moderation

Moving Beyond the False Dichotomy for Federation Management

The Nexus of Privacy shares:

More notes on Organizing, Mutual Aid, and Activism on decentralized social networks

Ghost has an announcement:

Social web (beta)

Funkwhale announces:

Funkwhale 2.0 Alpha candidate

Steven Berson has:

Thoughts on Diaspora

Other Slightly Federated Social Media

The Fediverse Report has:

Bluesky Report – #110

TechCrunch reports:

Beyond Bluesky: These are the apps building social experiences on the AT Protocol

Mark Cuban backs Skylight, a TikTok alternative built on Bluesky’s underlying technology

Rudy of Blacksky fame shares:

An internet of many autonomous communities

CTAs (aka show us some free love)

• That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
• Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
• Or follow Battalion on Bluesky.

Keep fighting!

Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse

#110 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProtocol #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Democracy #Diaspora #Fascism #Fediverse #Ghost #Mastodon #StopChina #StopIran #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine

https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1681

Destroying Autocracy – 27 March 2025

Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.

It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting it. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.

DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.

FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.

Featured Item

The Register reports:

EU OS is a proposal for an immutable KDE-based Linux distribution with a Windows-like desktop, designed for use in European public-sector organizations.

Rather than a new distro, it’s a website that documents planning such a thing, what functions the OS might need, how to deploy and manage it, and how to handle users.

EU OS drafts a locked-down Linux blueprint for Eurocrats

This needs to be implemented quickly and then exported to non-EU, non-fascist states as well.

We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.

The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

The Kyiv Independent reports:

Italy suspends Starlink purchase negotiations with SpaceX amid Musk controversy

Voice of America journalists sue Trump administration following president’s order to gut free press

The Register reports:

OTF, which backs Tor, Let’s Encrypt and more, sues to save funding from Trump cuts

US defense contractor cops to sloppy security, settles after infosec lead blows whistle

Wired reports:

How to Avoid US-Based Digital Services—and Why You Might Want To

Trump’s Aggression Sours Europe on US Cloud Giants

MIT Technology Review reports on:

Why the world is looking to ditch US AI models

In news sure to make Cory Doctorow happy, Tech Policy reports:

Interoperability in the EU: A Judgment Opens the Door

NPR reports:

As the Trump administration purges web pages, this group is rushing to save them

California announces:

Attorney General Bonta Urgently Issues Consumer Alert for 23andMe Customers

404 Media reports:

Mozilla Foundation Calls on Tech Industry to Block ICE Contractor

The Guardian reports:

A French university is offering ‘scientific asylum’ for US talent. The brain drain has started

The Huffington Post reports:

Pete Hegseth Sued Over Signal Text Debacle

The Kyiv Post reports:

First Surveillance Satellite of Planned Czechia-Ukrainian Constellation in Orbit

The Kyiv Independent reports:

’89 hours of non-stop work’ — Ukrainian Railways’ battle against a cyberattack by ‘the enemy’

TechCrunch reports:

Open source devs are fighting AI crawlers with cleverness and vengeance

The Reader makes:

The Anti-Capitalist Case for Standards

Neutral

Tech Policy has:

Scientists Respond to FTC Inquiry into Tech Censorship

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

The Verge asks:

Is it safe to travel with your phone right now?

It’s not safe to travel to the U.S. period. Or even within it by air.

DarkReading reports:

US Weakens Disinformation Defenses, as Russia & China Ramp Up

Heisse reports:

US-Behörde stoppt Gelder für Let’s Encrypt und Tor ‒ Open Tech Fund wehrt sich

Tech Policy reports on:

AI Surveillance on the Rise in US, but Tactics of Repression Not New

How the White House is Gaslighting the World About Europe’s Digital Laws

On a related note to The Guardian article above, Not a Tech Bro has:

Not invented here

Pariah States

BleepingComputer reports:

Cyberattack takes down Ukrainian state railway’s online services

DarkReading reports:

Meet the Low-Key Access Broker Supercharging Russian State Cybercrime

FCC Investigates China-Backed Tech Suppliers for Evading US Operations Ban

Iran’s MOIS-Linked APT34 Spies on Allies Iraq & Yemen

Big Media

America2 reports:

The Substack Dilemma: How Creators Are Inadvertently Fueling America’s Failure

Nothing personal but if you are on Substack, you’re a fascist or uninformed or an amoral c^nt.

Vanity Fair reports:

Trump’s Attacks on Press Freedom Are Paving the Way for Authoritarianism

The Washington Examiner reports:

Kari Lake withdraws cancellation of Radio Free Europe funding

Big Tech

Politico reports:

Musk’s X suspends opposition accounts in Turkey amid civil unrest

How surprising. Two set of c^nts work together.

MIT Technology Review reports:

Why handing over total control to AI agents would be a huge mistake

Tech Policy asks:

Will Ireland be Big Tech’s Lapdog Yet Again?

Blood in the Machine opines:

OpenAI’s Studio Ghibli meme factory is an insult to art itself

Smashing Frames calls it a:

Vulgar Display of Power

Cybersecurity/Privacy

The Register reports:

As nation-state hacking becomes ‘more in your face,’ are supply chains secure?

BleepingComputer reports:

New VanHelsing ransomware targets Windows, ARM, ESXi systems

TechCrunch reports:

How to tell if your online accounts have been hacked

404 Media reports:

When Your Threat Model Is Being a Moron

You Need to Use Signal’s Nickname Feature

The Verge reports:

Vivaldi bundles Proton VPN into its web browser

Fediverse

The Fediverse Report has:

Fediverse Report – #109

Arxiv has a research paper:

FediverseSharing: A Novel Dataset on Cross-Platform Interaction
Dynamics between Threads and Mastodon Users

Letterbook has a:

Development Update

Fedihost has some how to videos:

Creating A GoToSocial Instance on FediHost

Configuring A PeerTube Instance

Reset Digital for Good has:

Dezentrale YouTube-Alternative PeerTube: Nachhaltiger dank Peer-to-Peer?

Elena Rossini shares:

PeerTube: the Fediverse’s decentralized video platform (part 2: creator edition)

Other Slightly Federated Social Media

The Fediverse Report has:

ATmosphere Report – 2025march.b

TechCrunch reports:

A world without Caesars: How the ATProto community is rebuilding the web to return power to the people

Hmm. Are they really? They sure as fuck aren’t as social media. The web, let’s hope so.

Geekwire reports on:

The under-the-radar tech revolution that could change how the internet works

I think this is more accurate.

CTAs (aka show us some free love)

• That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
• Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
• Or follow Battalion on Bluesky.

Keep fighting!

Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse

#109 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #ATProtocol #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #GoToSocial #Mastodon #Peertube #Signal #StopChina #StopIran #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #Threads

https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1650

Destroying Autocracy – 20 March 2025

Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.

It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting it. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.

DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.

FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.

Featured Item

Hans-Peter Schulenberg shares:

The DEEPSEEK Effect: How a Chinese AI Startup Is Reshaping the Global Tech Landscape

Let’s hope that things like Open-R1 will become ethical alternatives.

We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.

The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

The Register reports:

Euro techies call for sovereign fund to escape Uncle Sam’s digital death grip

Vivaldi 7.2 browser wants to topple tech’s feudal lords

Reuters reports:

Dutch parliament calls for end to dependence on US software companies

Freedom of the Press Foundation reports:

Wired is dropping paywalls for FOIA-based reporting. Others should follow

I know 404 Media does the same.

DarkReading reports:

Duke University & GCF Partner to Identify Pathways for Advancing Women’s Careers in Cybersecurity

TechCrunch reports:

Apple loses appeal against Germany’s special abuse control for Big Tech

ArsTechnica reports:

UK online safety law Musk hates kicks in today, and so far, Trump can’t stop it

Apple and Google in the hot seat as European regulators ignore Trump warnings

Neutral

Tech Policy reports on:

Middle Powers Digital Antitrust Efforts in the Age of Trump

404 Media reports:

Public Records Reveal How Agencies Complied With Trump’s Anti-Trans Order

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

404 Media reports:

TSA Says Its Credit Cards for Bomb-Sniffing Dogs Are Cut Off

The Guardian reports:

How an obscure US government office has become a target of Elon Musk

Radio Free Europe reports:

Trump Signs Executive Order For Major Cuts To 7 Agencies, Including RFE/RL Overseer USAGM

TechCrunch reports:

CISA scrambles to contact fired employees after court rules layoffs ‘unlawful’

Pariah States

DarkReading reports:

Denmark Warns of Increased Cyber Espionage Against Telecom Sector

Black Basta Leader in League With Russian Officials, Chat Logs Show

BleepingComputer reports:

Ukrainian military targeted in new Signal spear-phishing attacks

Big Media

NPR reports:

‘Bloody Saturday’ at Voice of America and other U.S.-funded networks

NBC News reports:

The Trump administration axed Voice of America, and China’s state media are delighted

Radio World reports:

RFE/RL Sues the USAGM to Get Its Grant Back

The Kyiv Independent reports:

RFE/RL sues Trump administration over funding cuts

Big Tech

Cory Doctorow writes:

Amazon annihilates Alexa privacy settings, turns on continuous, nonconsensual audio uploading

The Guardian reports:

Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work by Sarah Wynn-Williams review – a former disciple unfriends Facebook

The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports on:

California’s A.B. 412: A Bill That Could Crush Startups and Cement A Big Tech AI Monopoly

The Register reports:

Amazon accused of using algorithms to push warehouse workers to breaking point

404 Media reports:

Meta Promises to Fight Misinformation in Australia With Same Strategy It Killed in the U.S. to Appease Trump

The Cradle reports:

Google to acquire Israeli firm staffed by former Unit 8200 officers

Two sets of c^nts who deserve each other.

Cybersecurity/Privacy

The Register reports:

UK wants dirt on data brokers before criminals get there first

Cloudflare reports:

Password reuse is rampant: nearly half of observed user logins are compromised

404 Media reports:

Facial Recognition Company Clearview Attempted to Buy Social Security Numbers and Mugshots for its Database

Fediverse

The Fediverse Report has:

Fediverse Report #108

The Conversation has:

The Fediverse promises social media without Big Tech – if it can avoid familiar pitfalls

The Social Web Foundation reports:

Fediverse House 2025 Wrap-up

IFTAS announces:

IFTAS 2.0 – Rescoping and Refocusing

Do the world a solid and make a donation to IFTAS, preferably a monthly one.

Fred Rocha explains:

How I use Mastodon in 2025

Ghost announces:

The social web beta is here

I’m looking forward to this being perfected and being available on regular Ghost.

Peertube announces:

PeerTube v7.1 is out!

A New Social is:

Breaking Ground

We Distribute reports:

Website League and the Rise of Island Networks

Forgejo has its:

Forgejo monthly update – February 2025

Other Slightly Federated Social Media

The Fediverse report has:

ATmosphere Report – 2025march.b

TechCrunch reports:

Bluesky users debate plans around user data and AI training

The Libre has:

Why I recommend against Bluesky

CTAs (aka show us some free love)

• That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
• Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
• Or follow Battalion on Bluesky.

Keep fighting!

Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse

#108 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #ATProtocol #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Mastodon #StopChina #StopIran #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine

https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1615

Welcome to last week’s “Destroying Autocracy”

https://friendica.me/display/78ea265d-1067-d9c8-d46f-543798792874

Destroying Autocracy – 13 March 2025

Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.

It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting it. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.

DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.

FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.

Featured Item

Tech Policy reports:

Describing the technologies that make all of this possible as “AI” masks what they really are: government surveillance targeting free speech. Today, the government’s use of (Big Tech) data threatens to deny rights while slashing government services, and the risk of being singled out hovers over anyone who disagrees with the administration.

A system linking the views expressed on an individual’s social media accounts to the platforms gathering government data is an immediate threat to the freedom to express ourselves and live without fear of government interference in that expression.

Through fear of service denials, investigations, targeted audits, and other potential abuses, the existence of this apparatus leads citizens to curtail Constitutionally protected speech acts. Creating a situation where citizens reasonably fear that their speech will lead to a suspension of rights, denial of services, or taking on other risks that threaten democratic participation and debate.

What is clear, however, is that the moment such an incursion into rights can be articulated, there is a vast legal precedent under the Privacy Act that can be brought forward in response. For that reason, Americans need more, not less, public expression of diverse ideas and robust rebuttals to the intrusion of this public-private partnership into our civic life.

The AI State is a Surveillance State

We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.

The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

The Next Web reports:

4 European satellite firms are vying to replace Starlink in Ukraine

Tech Policy reports:

Ukraine’s Hard-Won Approach to Strategic Communications and Counter-Disinformation: Lessons for Europe and Beyond

Politico reports:

EU-US rift triggers call for made-in-Europe tech

Krebs on Security reports:

Alleged Co-Founder of Garantex Arrested in India

The Verge reports:

Media Matters sues X to stop lawsuits outside of the US

TechPolicy reports:

DOJ Sets Record Straight of What’s Needed to Dismantle Google’s Search Monopoly

TechCrunch reports:

UK competition probe of mobile browsers finds Apple-Google duopoly is ‘anti-innovation’

Could deeptech serve as Europe’s path to autonomy from the US?

Signal President Meredith Whittaker calls out agentic AI as having ‘profound’ security and privacy issues

Open web initiatives Project Liberty and Solid could be teaming up

Meta faces publisher copyright AI lawsuit in France

Judge allows authors’ AI copyright lawsuit against Meta to move forward

ArsTechnica has more:

Meta mocked for raising “Bob Dylan defense” of torrenting in AI copyright fight

The United Nations announce:

The OSI First to Endorse United Nations Open Source Principles

Neutral

Tech Policy reports:

Out of Balance: What the EU’s Strategy Shift Means for the AI Ecosystem

BleepingComputer reports:

X hit by ‘massive cyberattack’ amid Dark Storm’s DDoS claims

Usually this would be in the cybersecurity section. But, since it was against the box of c^nts known as Shitter the story gets moved here.

OpenSource reports on:

Overcoming barriers to Open Source procurement in the European Union

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

Tech Policy reports:

How Disinformation Is Undermining Trust In Brazil’s Most Used Digital Public Infrastructure

The Guardian reports:

ICE accessed car trackers in sanctuary cities that could help in raids, files show

404 Media reports:

Here is NASA’s Contract with Clearview AI

The 200+ Sites an ICE Surveillance Contractor is Monitoring

TechDirt reports:

Trump’s Latest Weapon Against Critics: Destroying Their Lawyers

Pariah States

The Register reports:

Expired Juniper routers find new life – as Chinese spy hubs

BleepingComputer reports:

Undocumented commands found in Bluetooth chip used by a billion devices

North Korean Lazarus hackers infect hundreds via npm packages

TechCrunch reports:

North Korean government hackers snuck spyware on Android app store

Big Media

The Associated Press reports:

Washington Post columnist quits after her opinion piece criticizing owner Jeff Bezos is rejected

The Bulwark reports:

‘State Propaganda’: Anger Erupts Inside Univision Over Airing of Trump Ad

Big Tech

Not a Tech Bro says:

The government is not our business

The Index reports:

The Fascist Tech Bro Takeover Is Here

Unfortunately, it’s true.

The BBC reports:

Facebook was ‘hand in glove’ with China, BBC told

Radio Free Asia reports:

Hong Kong media urged to back up Facebook protest videos

Terror

Michah Flee shares a:

Step-by-step guide to reading the leaked militia chats yourself

Very cool.

Cybersecurity/Privacy

DarkReading reports:

Democratizing Security to Improve Security Posture

OpenAI Operator Agent Used in Proof-of-Concept Phishing Attack

Binance Spoofers Compromise PCs in ‘TRUMP’ Crypto Scam

He, he.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation shares:

Choosing the VPN That’s Right for You

BleepingComputer reports:

Critical PHP RCE vulnerability mass exploited in new attacks

CISA: Medusa ransomware hit over 300 critical infrastructure orgs

Fediverse

The Fediverse Report has:

Fediverse Report #107

Hamish Campbell explains:

Why the Fediverse Needs a Connection Between Mainstreaming and Grassroots

The Nexus of Privacy shares:

Notes (and thoughts) on organizing in the Fediverse and the ATmosphere

Ghost has an update:

Actually, I take that back

Mastodon has:

Trunk & Tidbits, February 2025

SplitBrain details:

Mastodon to GoToSocial Migration

Other Slightly Federated Social Media

TechCrunch reports:

Open social web browser Surf integrates with Bluesky in latest beta

CTAs (aka show us some free love)

• That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
• Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
• Or follow Battalion on Bluesky.

Keep fighting!

Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse

#107 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #ATProtocol #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Ghost #GoToSocial #Mastodon #StopChina #StopIran #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine

https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1575

Destroying Autocracy – 06 March 2025

Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.

It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting it. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.

DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.

FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.

Featured Item

Tech Policy writes:

The year is 2028. The world’s leading economies are in turmoil as artificial intelligence systems, once hailed as engines of progress, have outpaced human governance.

AI-driven financial markets operate beyond regulation, executing trades at speeds incomprehensible to human oversight. AI legal agents flood the courts with appeals and counterappeals, paralyzing the judicial system. Generative AI platforms tailor disinformation campaigns with surgical precision, dismantling electoral processes before governments can intervene.

Meanwhile, a handful of oligarchs with exclusive control over the most advanced AI systems command unprecedented influence, bypassing legislatures and setting policies through proprietary governance mechanisms.

Democracy, once thought resilient, is crumbling under the weight of unchecked artificial intelligence.

It’s hard not to see a trajectory towards such a world in today’s headlines. Yet, this future is not inevitable.

AI at the Brink: Preventing the Subversion of Democracy

We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.

The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

The Register reports:

UK watchdog investigates TikTok and Reddit over child data privacy concerns

ArsTechnica reports:

Apple refuses to break encryption, seeks reversal of UK demand for backdoor

NextGov reports:

US spy chief directs legal review of UK’s Apple backdoor demand

EuroNews reports:

EU Commission looking to speed up 5G defence from foreign interference

TechCrunch reports:

EU must ‘fully’ apply its market fairness rulebook on Google, search rivals urge

Jan Wildeboer describes:

From iCloud to Nextcloud: Contacts

404 Media reports:

French University to Fund American Scientists Who Fear Trump Censorship

Archivists Recreate Pre-Trump CDC Website, Are Hosting It in Europe

NetzPolitik reports:

Open source funding on the brink : “Delivering what’s needed to make Europe sovereign”

Tech Policy has:

Looking for an Exit: Europe’s Way to Public Digital Infrastructures

The Electronic Frontier Foundation introduces:

Meet Rayhunter: A New Open Source Tool from EFF to Detect Cellular Spying

BleepingComputer reports:

US charges Chinese hackers linked to critical infrastructure breaches

Andre Garzia opines:

The Web Should Be A Conversation

Sim, meu homem!

Ben Werdmuller says:

The web was always about redistribution of power. Let’s bring that back.

Joan Westenberg writes:

Big Tech Wants You Trapped. The Open Web Sets You Free

Neutral

The Register reports:

Microsoft unveils finalized EU Data Boundary as European doubt over US grows

It begins: Pentagon to give AI agents a role in decision making, ops planning

The Markup reports:

AI Chatbots Can Cushion the High School Counselor Shortage — But Are They Bad for Students?

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

BitDefender reports:

Stop targeting Russian hackers, Trump administration orders US Cyber Command

The Guardian reports:

Trump administration retreats in fight against Russian cyber threats

Meanwhile BleepingComputer reports:

DHS says CISA will not stop monitoring Russian cyber threats

The Register has more:

So … Russia no longer a cyber threat to America?

Given that the people running these agencies are now lying, moronic, incompetent, fascist c^nts, who knows what to believe.

The Kyiv Independent reports:

Russian, Chinese intelligence seek to recruit fired US federal employees, CNN reports

This would be funny if weren’t disastrous.

404 Media reports:

Cellebrite Is Using AI to Summarize Chat Logs and Audio from Seized Mobile Phones

Tech Policy reports:

An Alert to the World: The Role of Social Media Platforms in Bolsonaro’s Disinformation Campaign Targeting Brazil’s Democratic Institutions

Pariah States

The Register reports:

Polish space agency confirms cyberattack

DarkReading reports:

‘Crafty Camel’ APT Targets Aviation, OT With Polygot Files

China’s Silk Typhoon APT Shifts to IT Supply Chain Attacks

Big Media

Joan Westenberg shares:

Why I Won’t Write on Substack

Substack is for c^nts and fascists. Use Ghost or Buttondown instead. And you should become a paid subscriber to Joan’s site as well.

Speaking of, The Guardian has:

The LA Times’ AI ‘bias meter’ looks like a bid to please Donald Trump

TechDirt announces:

Why Techdirt Is Now A Democracy Blog (Whether We Like It Or Not)

Big Tech

Where’s Your ‘Ed At explains:

The Generative AI Con

TechCrunch reports:

Anthropic quietly removes Biden-era AI policy commitments from its website

Jumping on the coward bandwagon.

OpenAI’s ex-policy lead criticizes the company for ‘rewriting’ its AI safety history

404 Media reports:

Google and Amazon AI Say Hitler’s Mein Kampf Is ‘a True Work of Art’

Terror

Micah Flee is:

Exploring the Paramilitary Leaks

Cybersecurity/Privacy

DarkReading reports:

Third-Party Risk Top Cybersecurity Claims

BleepingComputer reports:

Microsoft Teams tactics, malware connect Black Basta, Cactus ransomware

Fediverse

The Fediverse Report has:

Fediverse Report #106

Unfortunately, IFTAS has an announcement:

IFTAS Service Shutdowns

I just started a small monthly donation, but they need big money for the things they just dropped.

FOSS Academic asks are we in a:

Standards War?

Ghost has an update:

Warp factor 5, Mr. Sulu

FunkWhale announces:

Funkwhale Against Fascism

And fuck anybody who has a problem with it!

Elena Rossini shares:

PeerTube: the Fediverse’s decentralized video platform (part 1: first impressions)

Other Slightly Federated Social Media

TechCrunch reports:

Tapbots teases a new Bluesky app, Phoenix, saying it can’t ‘survive on Mastodon alone’

Tangled is

Introducing tangled

CTAs (aka show us some free love)

• That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
• Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
• Or follow Battalion on Bluesky.

Keep fighting!

Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse

#106 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #ATProtocol #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Ghost #Mastodon #Peertube #StopChina #StopIran #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine

https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1514

Destroying Autocracy – 27 February 2025

Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.

It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting democracy. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.

DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.

FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.

Featured Item

Nextcloud announces:

More and more of our digital lives are controlled by a handful of big tech firms and their CEOs – but there is a better way. A way that puts control back in your hands, fosters collaboration, and protects your digital freedom. And today, that is more important than ever.

With Nextcloud Hub 10, we double down on the vision that started it all: an integrated yet modular digital workspace, built for freedom, security, and teamwork. Instead of juggling multiple disconnected apps, Nextcloud Hub provides a unified platform – easier to manage, scale, and secure – while still offering deep customization. Choose from our core applications, extend them with 400+ integration-ready apps, and bring in the services you need.

Because the future isn’t about walled gardens – it’s about open collaboration. Whether you’re running Nextcloud at home, in a business, government, or local sports club, you stay in control. Our federation features connect Nextcloud servers worldwide, bringing millions together in a truly decentralized network.

Nextcloud Hub 10 – your unified, modular digital workspace

As mentioned in the Techno Anarchist Manifesto, using Nextcloud instead of Google, Microsoft, or Apple is a great way to fight Techno Feudalism.

We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.

The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

404 Media reports:

All 50 States Have Now Introduced Right to Repair Legislation

Ars Technica reports:

Judge: US gov’t violated privacy law by disclosing personal data to DOGE

BleepingComputer reports:

OpenAI bans ChatGPT accounts used by North Korean hackers

Tech Policy reports:

The EU’s Code of Practice on Disinformation is Now Part of the Digital Services Act. What Does It Mean?

The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:

Anti-Surveillance Mapmaker Refuses Flock Safety’s Cease and Desist Demand
TechCrunch reports:

Cellebrite suspends Serbia as customer after claims police used firm’s tech to plant spyware

The Internet Review has:

Framework Brings Real Excitement Back to Personal Computers

They are a recommendation of mine in The Techno Anarchist Manifesto aka Let’s fuck up Techno Feudalism

The Register reports:

Signal will withdraw from Sweden if encryption-busting laws take effect

Microsoft names alleged credential-snatching ‘Azure Abuse Enterprise’ operators

Joan Westenberg shares:

How I’m Building a Trump-Proof Tech Stack Without Big Tech

For a more hardcore version, see the Techno Anarchist Manifesto above.

The Next Web reports:

DataSnipper CEO: Europe doesn’t have to follow the Silicon Valley playbook

404 Media shares:

The Digital Packrat Manifesto

Neutral

Open_Future published:

“Digital Public Infrastructure” at a Turning Point

Tech Policy shares:

Beyond Digital Rights: Towards a Fair Information Ecosystem?

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

Bert Hubert says:

It is no longer safe to move our governments and societies to US clouds

He’s right.

The Register reports:

Trump administration threatens tariffs for any nation that dares to tax Big Tech
Krebs on Security reports:

Trump 2.0 Brings Cuts to Cyber, Consumer Protections

Pariah States

Krebs on Security reports:

Notorious Malware, Spam Host “Prospero” Moves to Kaspersky Lab

This should surprise no one.

BleepingComputer reports:

North Korean hackers linked to $1.5 billion ByBit crypto heist

Belgium probes if Chinese hackers breached its intelligence service

The Register reports:

China’s Silver Fox spoofs medical imaging apps to hijack patients’ computers
Xi know what you did last summer: China was all up in Republicans’ email, says book

Villain on Villain action here.

Big Media

The Guardian reports:

Washington Post opinion editor departs as Bezos pushes to promote ‘personal liberties and free markets’

Ex-Washington Post editor Marty Baron rebukes Bezos: ‘betrayal of free expression’

Big Tech

The Electronic Frontier Foundation says:

Stop Censoring Abortion: Help EFF and Repro Uncensored end digital suppression

404 Media reports:

Instagram ‘Error’ Turned Reels Into Neverending Scroll of Murder, Gore, and Violence

Cybersecurity/Privacy

The Verge reports:

Google is replacing Gmail’s SMS authentication with QR codes

The Register reports:

How nice that state-of-the-art LLMs reveal their reasoning … for miscreants to exploit

Bleeping Computer reports:

New Auto-Color Linux backdoor targets North American govts, universities

GitVenom attacks abuse hundreds of GitHub repos to steal crypto

Microsoft names cybercriminals behind AI deepfake network

404 Media reports:

AT&T Hacker Tried to Sell Stolen Data to Foreign Government

Fediverse

The Fediverse Report has:

Fediverse Report #105

TechCrunch reports:

Tumblr backs Tapestry, a timeline app for the open social web

I think apps like this and Surf are going to gain more traction than platform apps and clients in the long run.

Beej’s Bit Bucket takes a look at:

Mastodon Comments

NodeBB is fully federated:

NodeBB v4.0.0 — Federate good times, come on!

We Distribute opines:

Funkwhale Wants to Filter Out Far-Right Music

Other Slightly Federated Social Media

Bluesky info has:

Bluesky Resources

CTAs (aka show us some free love)

• That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
• Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
• Or follow Battalion on Bluesky.

Keep fighting!

Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse

#105 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProtocol #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Mastodon #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine

https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1475

Destroying Autocracy – 20 February 2025

Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.

It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting democracy. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.

DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.

FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.

Featured Item

The Dabbler writes:

If an AI system, though not actually thinking or understanding, is built to reflect the way we theorize our minds to function, then in theory at least, we should be able to change it the same way we change our own minds. That means bringing conflicts and contradictions to the surface in order to resolve them. And if we want to undermine the technofascist project, then we need to emphasize the contradictions inherent to it.

Poison as Praxis

Very interesting.

We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.

The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

TechDirt reports:

No Personal Liability For DOGE Yet, But With Two More Lawsuits We Get Closer
TechCrunch reports:

Open source LLMs hit Europe’s digital sovereignty roadmap

The Electronic Frontier Foundation says:

Stop Censoring Abortion: Help EFF and Repro Uncensored End Digital Suppression

404 Media reports:

Public Library Ebook Service to Cull AI Slop After 404 Media Investigation

Tech Policy reports:

Data Colonialism Comes Home To The US: Resistance Must Too

Neutral

Tech Policy Press reports:

At Paris AI Summit, US, EU, Other Nations Lay Out Divergent Goals

AI Countergovernance: Lessons Learned from Canada and Paris

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

Tech Policy reports:

Online Election Manipulation Is a Challenge for Democracy. It’s About to Get a Whole Lot Worse.

404 Media reports:

Musk Ally Demands Admin Access to System That Lets Government Text the Public

The Texas Observer reports:

ICE Prosecutor in Dallas Runs White Supremacist X Account

Pariah States

The Register reports:

If you dread a Microsoft Teams invite, just wait until it turns out to be a Russian phish

Google reports:

Signals of Trouble: Multiple Russia-Aligned Threat Actors Actively Targeting Signal Messenger

DarkReading reports:

China-Linked Threat Group Targets Japanese Orgs’ Servers

North Korea’s Kimsuky Taps Trusted Platforms to Attack South Korea

Big Media

The Independent reports:

Washington Post refuses to run $115,000 ad titled ‘Fire Elon Musk,’ report says
The Verge reports:

The New York Times adopts AI tools in the newsroom

Newsweek reports:

Joe Rogan Dethroned by Anti-Trump Podcast in the Charts

Big Tech

The Verge reports:

X is blocking links to Signal

CBS News reports:

Meta failing to curb spread of many sexualized AI deepfake celebrity images on Facebook

TechCrunch reports:

Study of TikTok, X ‘For You’ feeds in Germany finds far-right political bias ahead of federal elections

Tech Policy reports:

Amidst Flurry Of Anti-DEI Measures, Meta’s Content Moderation Policies Will Harm People With Disabilities

Cybersecurity/Privacy

The Register reports:

Nearly 10 years after Data and Goliath, Bruce Schneier says: Privacy’s still screwed

The Center for Democracy and Technology reports:

First Amendment Tech Transparency Roadmap

Privacy Guides says:

No, Privacy is Not Dead: Beware the All-or-Nothing Mindset

BleepingComputer reports:

Lee Enterprises newspaper disruptions caused by ransomware attack

Darcula PhaaS can now auto-generate phishing kits for any brand

The Verge reports:

Chase will start blocking Zelle payments over social media

Center for Democracy and Technology says:

Online Censorship Isn’t New – Neither Are Efforts to Evade It

Soatok starts a new series:

Reviewing the Cryptography Used by Signal

Vox reports:

How to fight back in the war against spam texts

Fediverse

The Fediverse Report has:

The Fediverse Report has:

Fediverse Report – #104

The Nexus of Privacy explores:

Organizing on decentralized social networks

We Distribute reports:

IFTAS is In a Funding Crisis

Elana Rossini shares:

GoToSocial empowers you to have your own home on the Fediverse – with unique controls

Box 464 has:

Understanding Mastodon Preview Card Display Logic

Other Slightly Federated Social Media

TechCrunch reports:

Bluesky adds a ‘followers only’ reply option

Jaz looks at:

When Imperfect Systems are Good, Actually: Bluesky’s Lossy Timelines

CTAs (aka show us some free love)

• That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
• Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
• Or follow Battalion on Bluesky.

Keep fighting!

Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse

#104 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProtocol #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #GoToSocial #Mastodon #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine

https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1429

Destroying Autocracy – 13 February 2025

Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.

It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting democracy. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.

DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.

FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.

Featured Item

404 Media writes:

A new paper from researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University finds that as humans increasingly rely on generative AI in their work, they use less critical thinking, which can “result in the deterioration of cognitive faculties that ought to be preserved.”

“A key irony of automation is that by mechanizing routine tasks and leaving exception-handling to the human user, you deprive the user of the routine opportunities to practice their judgement and strengthen their cognitive musculature, leaving them atrophied and unprepared when the exceptions do arise,” the researchers wrote.

Microsoft Study Finds AI Makes Human Cognition “Atrophied and Unprepared”

Surprise, surprise.

We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.

The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

The Next Web reports:

Ethical AI and climate tech are turning the Netherlands into a European innovation leader

The Electronic Frontier Foundation looks at:

Closing the Gap in Encryption on Mobile

Fast Company reports:

This scrappy search upstart is getting thousands of people to give up Google

BleepingComputer reports:

US sanctions LockBit ransomware’s bulletproof hosting provider

404 Media reports:

Wikipedia Prepares for ‘Increase in Threats’ to US Editors From Musk and His Allies

The Register reports:

A win at last: Big blow to AI world in training data copyright scrap

Great.

Codeberg declares:

We stay strong against hate and hatred

DarkReading reports:

Japan Goes on Offense With New ‘Active Cyber Defense’ Bill

Neutral

Tech Policy has:

Message to US States: Don’t Forget the Fundamentals of Fighting Online Hate and Antisemitism

An Advocate’s Guide to Automated Content Moderation

Navigating Europe’s AI Code of Practice Before the Clock Runs Out

The Register reports:

EU plans to ‘mobilize’ €200B to invest in AI to catch up with US and China

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

The Atlantic reports:

The Government’s Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified

Popular Information reports:

The NSA’s “Big Delete”

G Zero Media reports:

Elon Musk’s government takeover is powered by AI

Business Insider reports:

We got a DOGE staff list. From a McKinsey alum to a former Clarence Thomas clerk, here are the workers powering Elon Musk’s cost-cutting squad.

TechCrunch reports:

Spyware maker caught distributing malicious Android apps for years

The Guardian reports:

US immigration is gaming Google to create a mirage of mass deportations

The Intercept reports:

ICE wants to know if you’re posting mean things about it online

Pariah States

BleepingComputer reports:

Russian military hackers deploy malicious Windows activators in Ukraine

BadPilot network hacking campaign fuels Russian SandWorm attacks

DPRK hackers dupe targets into typing PowerShell commands as admin

Chinese espionage tools deployed in RA World ransomware attack

Domain Tools reports:

Chinese Malware Delivery Domains Part II: Data Collection

The Guardian reports:

Revelations of Israeli spyware abuse raise fears over possible use by Trump

The Register reports:

Crimelords and spies for rogue states are working together, says Google

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports:

2024 is deadliest year for journalists in CPJ history; almost 70% killed by Israel

Ars Technica reports:

What is device code phishing, and why are Russian spies so successful at it?

Big Media

The Wikipedian reports:

The Right’s War on Wikipedia is Just a Repackaging of its War on Journalism

Big Tech

The Guardian reports:

We didn’t click ‘consent’ on any gambling website. So how did Facebook know where we’d been?

How Meta abandoned Silicon Valley’s most ambitious diversity goals

404 Media reports:

Senator Pushes Zuckerberg on “Perverse Abuse” of Nudify Ads After 404 Media Report

This Adtech Company is Powering Surveillance of U.S. Military Personnel

PC Gamer reports:

A 2023 study concluded CAPTCHAs are ‘a tracking cookie farm for profit masquerading as a security service’ that made us spend 819 million hours clicking on traffic lights to generate nearly $1 trillion for Google

The Verge reports:

Google Calendar removed events like Pride and BHM because its holiday list wasn’t ‘sustainable’

There is nothing worse than cowardice.

OpenAI is rethinking how AI models handle controversial topics

Terror

The Guardian reports:

Bomb-plot trial of neo-Nazi leader pulls back veil on US extremist networks

Cybersecurity/Privacy

The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:

The UK’s Demands for Apple to Break Encryption Is an Emergency for Us All

The Washington Post reports:

Your employer might be spying on you. Here’s how workers can check.

BleepingComputer reports:

Apple fixes zero-day exploited in ‘extremely sophisticated’ attacks

CNN reports:

How to keep your private conversations private

The Register reports:

Probe finds US Coast Guard has left maritime cybersecurity adrift

Feds want devs to stop coding ‘unforgivable’ buffer overflow vulnerabilities

Fediverse

The Fediverse Report has:

Last Week in Fediverse #103

Wreckage shares:

Bridges & scruples

Read this if you love the Fediverse.

SMA looks at:

A Brief History of Alternative Social Media Scholarship

The New Stack reports:

Pixelfed Crowdfunds More Open Source Social Alternatives for the Fediverse

The Internet Review reports on:

Improved Moderation Features Coming Later This Month to Pixelfed

TechCrunch reports:

These apps are building Instagram alternatives on open protocols

Tumblr to join the Fediverse after WordPress migration completes

Mastodon has:

Trunk & Tidbits, January 2025

Bringing Quote Posts to Mastodon

The Counterforce shares:

The Counterforce Guide to Mastodon and The Fediverse (for punks!)

But Nazi Punks, Fuck Off!

Ghost has:

If you didn’t like it then you should have just unfollowed it

Repost the stuff you love

Other Slightly Federated Social Media

The Fediverse Report has:

Last Week in the ATmosphere – 2025feb.b

CTAs (aka show us some free love)

• That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
• Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
• Or follow Battalion on Bluesky.

Keep fighting!

Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse

#103 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProtocol #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Codeberg #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Ghost #Mastodon #Pixelfed #Spyware #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #Tumblr

https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1387

Destroying Autocracy – 06 February 2025

Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.

It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting democracy. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.

DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.

FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck em.

Featured Item

This week we feature our guide to the timeline we’re stuck in.

The Techno Anarchist Manifesto aka Let’s fuck up Techno Feudalism

I write:

“This practical and profanity-laced manifesto provides the loose philosophy, strategies, battleplans, tactics, and weapons to destroy Techno Feudalism via the practice of Techno Anarchism. It explains the war we are in, the Techno battle’s place in it, and what Techno Feudalism and Techno Anarchism are.

Don’t worry, I not going to start capping tech CEOs anytime soon. I’m not a 1914 anarchist or advocating for it in general.”

If you give a fuck about anything, please read it, save it, and act upon some of it!

We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.

The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

The Kyiv Independent reports:

What to expect from Ukraine’s defense innovation in 2025

Kyiv Independent raises over $66,200 to support Ukrainian newsrooms hit by US aid freeze

The Next Web reports:

European AI alliance unveils LLM alternative to Silicon Valley and DeepSeek

Deepfake detection improves when using algorithms that are more aware of demographic diversity

TechCrunch reports:

EU details which systems fall within AI Act’s scope

The Financial Times reports:

EU prepares to hit Big Tech in retaliation for Donald Trump’s tariffs

Tech Policy reports:

Salvaging European Technological Sovereignty in a Trump 2.0 World

A Whole Lotta Nothing reports:

A guide to using Signal for government workers

Phiffer demonstrates:

Archiving your Meta accounts

BleepingComputer reports:

Spain arrests suspected hacker of US and Spanish military agencies

The (Semi)Justice Department reports:

Superseding Indictment Charges Chinese National in Relation to Alleged Plan to Steal Proprietary AI Technology

Ars Technica reports:

DeepSeek is “TikTok on steroids,” senator warns amid push for government-wide ban

The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:

DDoSed by Policy: Website Takedowns and Keeping Information Alive

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

The Index reports:

Elon Musk Is an Existential Threat to Big Tech

This would be funny if it didn’t mean the rest of us get fucked even worse.

Ben Werdmuller shares:

Move fast and break democracy

Tech Policy reports:

With US Commitment to Internet Freedom in Jeopardy, China and Russia Set to Gain

Wired reports:

A US Treasury Threat Intelligence Analysis Designates DOGE Staff as ‘Insider Threat’

As I have said for years, Big Tech is the greatest threat to democracy. Again, see our featured item.

Pariah States

The Texas Tribune reports:

A Russian Facebook page organized a protest in Texas. A different Russian page launched the counterprotest.

TechCrunch reports:

Spyware maker Paragon confirms US government is a customer

Reuters reports:

Italy says seven people targeted by Israeli spyware on WhatsApp

Cyfirma shares:

APT Quarterly Highlights : Q4 2024

Big Tech

ProPublica is outing:

Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew

The Verge reports:

DOGE staffer resigns after reporters uncover racist posts

The Register reports:

Palantir designed to ‘power the West to its obvious innate superiority,’ says CEO

This is the only motherfucker on earth who is a bigger c^nt than SpaceKaren.

Speaking of Apartheid Clyde 404 Media reports:

‘Things Are Going to Get Intense:’ How a Musk Ally Plans to Push AI on the Government

DOGE Employees Ordered to Stop Using Slack While Agency Transitions to a Records System Not Subject to FOIA

TechDirt reports:

Musk’s Takeover Of The Government’s Computer Systems Needs To Be Understood As A Cyberattack, Or Worse

When It’s Not Just A Coup But A CFAA Violation Too

Ars Technica reports:

As Internet enshittification marches on, here are some of the worst offenders

”Torrenting from a corporate laptop doesn’t feel right”: Meta emails unsealed

Politico reports:

Meta chief lobbyist slams EU tech laws and fines

Wired reports:

Google Lifts a Ban on Using Its AI for Weapons and Surveillance

Dead Simple Tech has:

Licking the AI Boot

Cybersecurity/Privacy

Privacy Guides shares:

Using Tails When Your World Doesn’t Feel Safe Anymore

LAVX reports:

Casio UK Store Breach: A Deep Dive into Magento Vulnerabilities and Cybersecurity Lapses

Wired reports:

Meet the Hired Guns Who Make Sure School Cyberattacks Stay Hidden

Tim shares:

Everyone knows your location: tracking myself down through in-app ads

BleepingComputer reports:

CISA orders agencies to patch Linux kernel bug exploited in attacks

Cloudflare has:

Cloudflare incident on February 6, 2025

Fediverse

The Fediverse Report has:

Fediverse Report – #102

All Things Open shares:

ActivityPub explained: The protocol connecting the Fediverse

Hollo announces:

We’re excited to announce the release of (Fedify 1.4.0)

TechCrunch reports:

Team behind Twitterrific launches a multi-feed app called Tapestry

We Distribute reports:

Public Firehose Project Shutters After Backlash

Remembering Radio Free Fedi

The Verge reports:

Threads now lets you share your custom feeds

Other Slightly Federated Social Media

The Fediverse Report has:

Last Week in Bluesky – 2025feb.a

TechCrunch reports:

Bluesky will soon let you limit replies to ‘followers only’

CTAs (aka show us some free love)

• That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
• Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
• Or follow Battalion on Bluesky.

Keep fighting!

Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse

#102 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProtocol #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fedify #Fediverse #Pixelfed #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #Threads

https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1324

Drinking lots of Columbian coffee and Canadian whisky. What do Panama and Greenland make? #StopRedAmerica