the Mexican chemical and building materials company Orbia, the Japanese electronics producer JVCKENWOOD, and Sony Mobile Communications, global telecommunications company
#leaverussia #stoprussia
#stoprussia
Between July and September 2025, 23 more international companies finalised their exit from the Russian market, according to Leave Russia/KSE Institute.
Destroying Autocracy â October 16, 2025
Welcome to this weekâs âDestroying Autocracyâ.
Itâs 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 mediaâs 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 canât be free without safety and privacy.
FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck âem.
Weâre off to France to scout locations for The Fulcrumâs worldwide HQ. đ So, there will not be a post for the next two weeks.
The Programmerâs Fulcrum is the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy, Developing the OMN.
You can sign up now and for 2025 get an email with links to and featured articles for each weekâs Symfony Station CommuniquĂ© and Battalion âDestroying Autocracyâ post along with their featured articles. And youâll be set with TPF after the fusing.
We are posting on the Fediverse now at @thefulcrum @thefulcrum.dev and original website content will start in 2026.
Featured Item(s)
EuroNews writes:
Artificial intelligence is a matter of design â not destiny.
Thatâs the message from 10 philanthropic foundations aiming to loosen the grip that the technologyâs moneyed developers, fueled by an investing frenzy, hold over its evolution.
Launched Tuesday under the name Humanity AI, the coalition is committing $500 million (âŹ427 million) across the next five years to place human interests at the forefront of the technologyâs rapid integration into daily life.
âThe future belongs to those who actively create it, and that shanât be a few leaders in Silicon Valley. Itâs all of us,â Mozilla Foundation Executive Director Nabiha Syed said in an emailed statement.
Philanthropists to invest âŹ427 million to curbs tech giantsâ influence on new AI
Letâs hope they are successful.
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russiaâs War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
Ars Technica reports:
Why Signalâs post-quantum makeover is an amazing engineering achievement
Feds seize $15 billion from alleged forced labor scam built on âhuman sufferingâ
Inside the web infrastructure revolt over Googleâs AI Overviews
EuroNews reports:
Netherlands invokes rare emergency law to take charge of Chinese chipmaker
Free Software Foundation Europe reports:
Refund of pre-installed Windows: Lenovo must pay 20,000 euros in damages
DMA litigation against Apple: a quick recap
The Register reports:
Librephone battles the proprietary binary blob
Fantastic.
Lemonde Informatiqué reports:
Microsoft 365 Education traque illégalement les données des élÚves
The Guardian reports:
Italian news publishers demand investigation into Googleâs AI Overviews
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Victory! California Requires Transparency for AI Police Reports
Labor Unions, EFF Sue Trump Administration to Stop Ideological Surveillance of Free Speech Online
Signal reports:
Signal Desktop introduces Notification profiles
Tor Browser has an update:
Tor Browser will remove all of the Firefox AI features that Mozilla has been recently adding
Neutral
Ben Werdmueller advises:
News Orgs: Build what makes you special. Buy the rest.
NiemanLab shares:
âHow can we help?â The Engaged Journalism Exchange aims to create belonging through media
Tech Policy reports:
To Have Democracy, We Must Contest Data
Government Technology reports:
CDT: Growing AI Use in Schools Brings Benefits and New Risks
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
Poynter reports:
A united media stands up against the Pentagonâs press restrictions
404 Media reports:
ICE, Secret Service, Navy All Had Access to Flockâs Nationwide Network of Cameras
Pariah States
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
TechCrunch reports:
Spyware maker NSO confirms acquisition by U.S. investor
404 Media reports:
Senators Warn Saudi Arabiaâs Acquisition of EA Will Be Used for âForeign Influenceâ
BleepingComputer reports:
North Korean hackers use EtherHiding to hide malware on the blockchain
DarkReading reports:
China Hackers Test AI-Optimized Attack Chains in Taiwan
The Register reports:
Chinese cyberspies snoop on Russian IT biz in rare east-on-east attack
Big Tech
Ars Technica reports:
Trump admin pressured Facebook into removing ICE-tracking group
Infrequently Noted reports:
The App Store Was Always Authoritarian
MDR reports:
Windows-Umstellung kostet Sachsen-Anhalt mehr als vier Millionen Euro
404 Media reports:
The End of Windows 10 Support Is an E-Waste Disaster in the Making
Scott Larson reports:
Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoftâs move towards a surveillance state
BertHub has:
The Torment Nexus has:
Should we be afraid of AI? Maybe a little
Personally I think of AI as a hammer and humans as nails. 95% of the time, itâs hammering us into a pile of shit. 5% of the time it can be turned around to pull us out.
Speaking of, The Verge reports:
OpenAI allegedly sent police to an AI regulation advocateâs door
Tuta shares:
How GoDaddy hollowed out Host Europe & DomainFactory (plus better European web hosting providers)
Terror
Politico reports:
âI love Hitlerâ: Leaked messages expose Young Republicansâ racist chat
Cybersecurity/Privacy
BleepingComputer reports:
Spain dismantles âGXC Teamâ cybercrime syndicate, arrests leader
Wired reports:
Satellites Are Leaking the Worldâs Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data
The Register reports:
British govt agents demand action after UK mega-cyberattacks surge 50%
Internet Exchange shares:
A Shield in Uncertain Times: The Role of Encryption
Fediverse
Connected Places has:
Ben Werdmueller tells us:
Why the open social web matters now
For Better reflects on:
Defining a new kind of social app
Media CCC shares:
Decentralising Freedom: Open Source for Sovereignty
Fedify announces:
Fedify 1.9.0: Security enhancements, improved DX, and expanded framework support
Loops has:
We Distribute has:
Wafrn is for People Who Miss Tumblrâs Chaotic Energy
Mastodon announces:
The first beta release of Mastodon 4.5.0 is ready for testing!
TechCrunch reports:
Threads is getting group chats as messaging rolls out to the EU
Forgejo announces:
Slightly Decentralized Social Media
ATProtocol Dev is:
Announcing ATmosphereConf: Vancouver, March 2026
Remember Bluesky is half-ass but ATProto has potential.
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- Thatâs 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 even our future home in 2026, if you want a head start.
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
#ActivityPub #AI #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Democracy #Fascism #Fedify #Fediverse #GoDaddy #Loops #Mastodon #Newsmast #Signal #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism #Threads #WARFN
Destroying Autocracy â October 09, 2025
Welcome to this weekâs âDestroying Autocracyâ.
Itâs 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 mediaâs 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 canât 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 âem.
The Programmerâs Fulcrum is the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy, Developing the OMN.
You can sign up now and for 2025 get an email with links to and featured articles for each weekâs Symfony Station CommuniquĂ© and Battalion âDestroying Autocracyâ post along with their featured articles. And youâll be set with TPF after the fusing.
We are posting on the Fediverse now at @thefulcrum @thefulcrum.dev and original website content will start in 2026.
Featured Item(s)
Open Media Network writes:
A central thesis of Tolkienâs books is that evil provides the means of its own defeat. Sauron forged the One Ring that destroyed him. Shelob impaled herself on Samâs blade. Smaug exposed his belly to Bilbo and revealed the weak point that brought him down. Tolkienâs world is full of this pattern: the seed of destruction lies buried inside the will to dominate. Power over others always carries its own undoing.
But thereâs a second truth, less often spoken. Good must still act. The Ring did not cast itself into the fires of Mount Doom, it had to be carried, inch by inch, through the mud and terror, by two small Hobbits who refused to give up. Shelob could only fall because Sam held his arm firm when it would have been easier to drop the blade. Smaug was slain not by fate, but by the hand that fired the black arrow.
Even when evil weakens itself, the act of courage still has to be taken. The small people still have to step up. And thereâs a third lesson here, one that feels painfully relevant to our time: good only loses when it surrenders to hopelessness. Denethorâs despair nearly doomed Minas Tirith.
Frodo would have fallen without Samâs stubborn love. Bilboâs small act of faith. In Tolkienâs world, hope is not naĂŻve optimism, itâs an act of defiance.
Join us and become a hobbit in the Open Media Network.
Speaking of OMN, we have an announcement this week:
Announcing The Programmerâs Fulcrum, our retirement project
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russiaâs War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
The Kyiv Independent reports:
The military branch behind Ukraineâs battlefield apps turns to weapons bureaucracy
Ukraineâs parliament backs creation of cyber forces in first reading
The Christian Science Monitor reports:
How Ukrainian drones are slowing Russiaâs advance in the east
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
What Europeâs New Gig Work Law Means for Unions and Technology
Eiffair shares:
Its FOSS News reports:
Wikidata Launches Free Vector Database as Open Alternative to Closed AI Systems
NiemanLab reports:
Nonprofit news is growing strong â especially local nonprofit news, a new report shows
And the Columbia Journalism Review reports:
Heisse reports:
A defeat at the Supreme Court: Google must prepare changes to the Play Store
Nextcloud has:
Nextcloud vs Microsoft interoperability: how open source gets it right
Open letter to EU Member States on the proposed CSA Regulation or âChat Controlâ law
Tuta announces:
Europeâs future is at stake: Open letter against Chat Control
Patrick shares the good news that pressure still works:
Citizen Protest Halts Chat Control; Breyer Celebrates Major Victory for Digital Privacy
404 Media reports:
Data Hoarder Uses AI to Create Searchable Database of Epstein Files
Help Us Investigate Book Bans and Educational Censorship Around America
Igalia announces:
Igalia, Servo, and the Sovereign Tech Fund
The Guardian reports:
You wonât believe what degrading practice the pope just condemned
Clever headline.
The Register reports:
Pro-Russia hacktivist group dies of cringe after falling into researchersâ trap
UK slaps âstrategic market statusâ on Google, unlocking power to pry open search
Burning Web shares:
Great Stuff.
Neutral
CyberCultural shares:
What the Internet Was Like in 2000
Homestar Runner đ
The Brookings Institute says:
The Guardian reports:
Poynter announces:
Poynter launches AI Innovation Lab to house its growing AI portfolio
CommonsDB is:
Exploring CommonsDBâs role in AI training data
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
TechCrunch reports:
ICE bought vehicles equipped with fake cell towers to spy on phones
Italian businessmanâs phone reportedly targeted with Paragon spyware
Pariah States
The Kyiv Independent reports:
Russiaâs digital Iron Curtain descends as Kremlin chokes remaining internet freedoms
IFTAS reports:
Coordinated Pro-Russian Propaganda Network Targeting ActivityPub and ATProto Services
Bleeping Computer reports:
Russian Hacktivists target critical infrastructure, hit decoy plant
North Korean hackers stole over $2 billion in crypto this year
The Columbia Journalism Review reports on:
Israelâs Influencer Insiders
DarkReading reports:
Chinese Govât Fronts Trick the West to Obtain Cyber Tech
China-Nexus Actors Weaponize âNezhaâ Open Source Tool
The Register reports:
OpenAI bans suspected Chinese accounts using ChatGPT to plan surveillance
The Columbia Journalism Review reports:
How Anti-Cybercrime Laws Are Being Weaponized to Repress Journalism
Big Media
FAIR reports:
MAGAâs Little Helpers: Sinclair, Nexstar and the Consolidation of Broadcast TV
Poynter reports:
Big Tech
404 Media reports:
Apple Banned an App That Simply Archived Videos of ICE Abuses
CNET reports:
The Hidden Dangers of the Digital âYes Manâ: How to Push Back Against Sycophantic AI
The Guardian has:
Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
LitHub has more Cory Doctorow action:
How American Tech Cartels Use Apps to Break the Law
TechDirt reports:
And evidently make the law.
NOYB shares:
noyb win: Microsoft 365 Education may not track school children
Cybersecurity/Privacy
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Tileâs Lack of Encryption Is a Danger for Users Everywhere
FBI takes down BreachForums portal used for Salesforce extortion
Fuck Salesforce, BTW.
Fediverse
Social Experience Design says:
Welcome to Social coding commons
Hamish Campbell has:
Live at c-base a #fluffy Fediverse conference
Riley Testut reports:
The New Stack reports:
Everything Big Starts Small: Building Open Social Web Apps
The Social Web Foundation has an:
Interview with John OâNolan about Ghost 6
Connected Places has:
Fedify announces:
Fedify 2.0âthe CLI now runs natively on Node.js and Bun, not just Deno
Go To Social announces:
Weâve just made the proper release of v0.20.0 of GoToSocial, aka Sinister Sloth
TechCrunch reports:
Alternative app store AltStore raises $6M, connects with the Fediverse
Mastodon is taking cues from Bluesky with plans for its own starter âPacksâ
Mastodon has:
Community consultation: new Terms of Service (for mastodon.social and mastodon.online)
Itâs cool to join Mastodon but not these two instances.
Trunk & Tidbits, September 2025
Terence Eden explores:
Getting started with Mastodonâs Quote Posts â technical implementation details for servers
NHAM announces:
NHAM Update Opus 10 (Fedi Music Television Edition)
Super awesome.
Castopod announces:
The Official Castopod Plugin Repository
RSS
InEssential explains:
Why NetNewsWire Is Not a Web App
Lighthouse has:
A deep dive into the rss feed reader landscape
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
Azhdarchid has:
TechCrunch reports:
Niko Mara-McKay goes into the nitty-gritty:
Blueskyâs CEO meltdown: How leadership continues to fail its most marginalized users
I have said from day one that Bluesky will become enshittified. But, ATProto has some potential.
And to be fair, some of the leaders of ActivityPub and its largest platform (who value growth over safety) are egotistical pissy ass fucks when they are even slightly criticized.
But we are all fighting technofascism so letâs try to work together on the protocols front at least. Its okay to have debates and disagreements with allies. But treat them like allies when doing so. If they are your friends you can even call them pissy ass fucks. đ
Speaking of, A New Social announces:
Bounce from Mastodon to Bluesky
Why would you? Although maybe its works with Blacksky, Northsky, or Eurosky.
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- Thatâs 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 even our future home in 2026, if you want a head start.
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
#ActivityPub #AI #AltStore #ATProto #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Castopod #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #fluffy #GoToSocial #IFTAS #Mastodon #NHAM #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism
Destroying Autocracy â October 02, 2025
Welcome to this weekâs âDestroying Autocracyâ.
Itâs 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 mediaâs 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 canât 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 âem.
The Programmerâs Fulcrum is the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy, Developing the OMN.
You can sign up now and for 2025 get an email with links to and featured articles for each weekâs Symfony Station CommuniquĂ© and Battalion âDestroying Autocracyâ post along with their featured articles. And youâll be set with TPF after the fusing.
Featured Item
Cory Doctorow writes:
(I just gave) my first-ever speech about AI and I wasnât sure how it would go over, but thankfully, it went great and sparked a lively Q&A. One of those questions came from a young man who said something like âSo, youâre saying a third of the stock market is tied up in seven AI companies that have no way to become profitable and that this is a bubble thatâs going to burst and take the whole economy with it?â
I said, âYes, thatâs right.â
He said, âOK, but what can we do about that?â
The real (economic) AI apocalypse is nigh
Just adjusted my investments as these c^nts are going to drag down everyone else with them.
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russiaâs War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
The Guardian has a guest editorial:
Why I gave the world wide web away for free
LibreOffice celebrates:
LibreOffice turns 15: a celebration of freedom, collaboration and open technologies and standards
Itâs FOSS News has:
Austriaâs Armed Forces Gets Rid of Microsoft Office (Mostly) for LibreOffice
Framablog has:
Fin de Windows 10 : faisons le point
TechCrunch reports:
DJI loses lawsuit over classification as Chinese military company
California Governor Newsom signs landmark AI safety bill SB 53
BleepingComputer reports:
EU probes SAP over anti-competitive ERP support practices
NOS reports:
Judge: Instagram and Facebook should be given algorithm-free option
Tangle says:
Itâs time to embrace the tech backlash.
TechDirt reports:
Disneyâs Stupid, Pointless Ban Of Jimmy Kimmel Lost Them 1.7 Million Streaming Subscribers
NPR reports:
Hundreds of celebrities relaunch a McCarthy-era committee to defend free speech
The Daily Northwestern reports:
Flock contract termination talks persist after cameras reinstalled, city orders cease-and-desist
404 Media reports:
404 Media and Freedom of the Press Foundation Sue DHS
The Register reports:
EU funds are flowing into spyware companies, and politicians are demanding answers
Signal announces:
Signal Protocol and Post-Quantum Ratchets
DIY Conspiracy has:
The Counterforce: Building a DIY Punk Infrastructure Against Corporate Platforms
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
404 Media reports:
ICE to Buy Tool that Tracks Locations of Hundreds of Millions of Phones Every Day
The Register reports:
ICE plans to scour Facebook, TikTok, X, and even defunct Google+ for illegal immigration leads
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
EFF, ACLU to SFPD: Stop Illegally Sharing Data With ICE and Anti-Abortion States
Mexican Allies Raise Alarms About New Mass Surveillance Laws, Call for International Support
TechPolicy reports:
Control for Whom? Keeping an Eye on the Dark Side of Americaâs New Wearables Campaign.
This tracks for the Supreme C^nts.
The Guardian reports:
Starmer to unveil digital ID cards in plan set to ignite civil liberties row
TechCrunch reports:
UK government tries again to access encrypted Apple customer data: Report
The United Kuntdum is at it again.
The Association for Progressive Communications shares:
Pariah States
The Register reports:
Fake North Korean IT workers sneaking into healthcare, finance, and AI
Most HR types I have run into are stupid, but this is approaching ridiculous.
Hunt for RedNovember: Beijing hacked critical orgs in year-long snooping campaign
DarkReading reports:
New China APT Strikes With Precision and Persistence
BleepingComputer reports:
Dutch teens arrested for trying to spy on Europol for Russia
The Kyiv Independent reports:
Moldova casts blame on Russia for attempts to disrupt pivotal parliamentary elections
Big Media
Columbia Journalism Review reports:
The Pentagon Press Gears Up for a Fight
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Wave of Phony News Quotes Affects EveryoneâIncluding EFF
NiemanLab reports:
Scammers are using video deepfakes of journalists to peddle products online
Kagi announces:
Big Tech
Open Media Network says:
The #AI bubble might be nastier than the Dot.com crash
The Guardian reports:
Leading UK tech investor warns of âdisconcertingâ signs of AI stock bubble
Again, see the featured article.
TikTok âdirects child accounts to pornographic content within a few clicksâ
DarkReading reports:
âTrifectaâ of Google Gemini Flaws Turn AI Into Attack Vehicle
F-Droid needs our help:
F-Droid and Googleâs Developer Registration Decree
Fuck Google.
Cybersecurity/Privacy
The Register reports:
Feds cut funding to program that shared cyber threat info with local governments
Tile trackers are a stalkerâs dream, say Georgia Tech researchers
BleepingComputer reports:
Sendit sued by the FTC for illegal collection of children data
Ben Werdmuller says:
Your private data isnât as private as you think
Fediverse
Connected Places has a late:
NHAM announces:
How Indie Video Killed The Spotify Star
This looks awesome.
IFTAS announces:
The Social Web Foundation previews:
Cooperative Social Networks Berlin Fediday
The Applied Social Media Lab has:
Introducing the ASML ActivityPub Fuzzer: Improving Testing in the Fediverse
Great, great stuff.
Newsmast announces:
Building apps for social spaces
This is exactly the type of content The Programmerâs Fulcrum will cover. And we need more Fediverse businesses like this.
Mastodon has:
Bringing Quote Posts to Mastodon
Speaking of, Terence Eden has:
Getting started with Mastodonâs Quote Posts â technical implementation details for servers
Activity Pub for WordPress announces:
7.5.0 â Follow the Feed, Quote the Lead
TechCrunch reports:
Threads takes on X with new communities feature
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
TechCrunch reports:
Bluesky rolls out age verification for users in Ohio
The Social Web Foundation says:
The BlueSky Patent Non-Aggression Pledge is Good for The Social Web
Internet Exchange reports:
Bluesky Adopts More Flexible Model for Content Moderation
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- Thatâs 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 even our future home in 2026, if you want a head start.
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
#ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #IFTAS #Mastodon #Newsmast #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism #Threads #WordPress
@J
#putin #putler #fckptn #medwedew #putinwarcriminal #russland #ruzzia #russiaisaterrorisstate #stoprussia #moskau #kreml #Ukraine #UkraineWillWin #StandWithUkraine #GloryToUkraine #afd #noafd #fckafd #fcknzs #nazis #widerstand
Destroying Autocracy â September 25, 2025
Welcome to this weekâs âDestroying Autocracyâ.
Itâs 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 mediaâs 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 canât 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 âem.
The Programmerâs Fulcrum is the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy, Developing the OMN.
You can sign up now and for 2025 get an email with links to and featured articles for each weekâs Symfony Station CommuniquĂ© and Battalion âDestroying Autocracyâ post along with their featured articles. And youâll be set with TPF after the fusing.
Featured Item
Tuta shares:
Finally some good news: French MPs want to make it illegal to break encryption and limit surveillance.
Is France finally standing up for encryption and privacy?
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russiaâs War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
The Guardian reports:
Too tricky to cancel: Amazon faces US trial over alleged Prime subscription deceptions
Amazon to pay $2.5bn to settle FTC lawsuit over Prime âsubscription trapsâ
Ars Technica reports:
How to fight censorship, one Disney+ cancellation at a time
I canceled Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+. And theyâre gonna stay canceled. My drinking budget just went up $90 a month. Cheers!
The Verge reports:
Microsoft forced to make Windows 10 extended security updates truly free in Europe
404 Media reports:
Weâre Suing ICE for its $2 Million Spyware Contract
The Kyiv Independent reports:
Ukraine hacks Crimea proxy head, uncovers child abduction files, intelligence source says
FSFE reports:
The Digital Markets Act turns 1: one year of pushing for Device Neutrality
Neutral
The Next Web reports:
The EUâs âŹ2T budget overlooks a key tech pillar: Open source
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
Tech Policy reports:
The Internet Coup Is Here. And the World Is Still Asleep
The Guardian reports:
Documents offer rare insight on Iceâs close relationship with Palantir
Reuters reports:
Exclusive: US could hit entire International Criminal Court with sanctions soon
The EFF reports:
That Drone in the Sky Could Be Tracking Your Car
404 Media reports:
How Surveillance Firms Use âDemocracyâ As a Cover for Serving ICE and Trump
Ars Technica reports:
Senate staff probes DOGE, finds locked doors and windows covered with trash bags
Pariah States
DarkReading reports:
Chinese APT Leans on Researcher PoCs to Spy on Other Countries
Iran-Linked Hackers Target Europe With New Malware
EuroNews reports:
Inside Russiaâs AI-driven disinformation machine shaping Moldovaâs election
The Register reports:
SIM city: Feds say 100,000-card farms could have killed cell towers in NYC
Google warns China-linked spies lurking in ânumerousâ enterprises since March
North Koreaâs Lazarus Group shares its malware with IT work scammers
The Guardian reports:
Microsoft blocks Israelâs use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians
A small part of it.
Big Media
Fuck Disney, fuck ABC, fuck Sinclair, fuck the FCC, and fuck the orange hate baboon.
Ben Werdmuller has:
Building distributed media for a democratic breakdown
Big Tech
TechCrunch reports:
Meta launches super PAC to fight AI regulation as state policies mount
The Guardian reports:
Parents outraged as Meta uses photos of schoolgirls in ads targeting man
Meta exposé author faces bankruptcy after ban on criticising company
France24 reports:
EU rejects Apple demand to scrap landmark tech rules
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Going Viral vs. Going Dark: Why Extremism Trends and Abortion Content Gets Censored
If we stop using products from the c^nts at Meta, we can solve all these problems.
Computer World reports:
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
Hidde shares:
The politics of AI: weâll need more sustainability, community and democracy
404 Media reports:
AI âWorkslopâ Is Killing Productivity and Making Workers Miserable
Cybersecurity/Privacy
Camille Bouvat announces:
Saracroche, le bloqueur dâappels indĂ©sirables pour iPhone et Android
I was happy to find this spam blocker and put it to use on my Fairphone.
Between Two Firewalls reports:
Identity Is Still the Perimeter
Wired reports:
How Signalâs Meredith Whittaker Remembers SignalGate: âNo Fucking Wayâ
BleepingComputer reports:
Police seizes $439 million stolen by cybercrime rings worldwide
Fediverse
Connected Places has:
Elena Rossini shares:
The Future Is Federated: My Fediverse Starter Guide
Open Journals has some new research:
Kalvin has:
Mastodon and Algorithms: Transparent, Simple, and User-Controlled
PeerTube announces:
PeerTube mobile app v1.1.0 is out!
PieFed announces:
Hackers Pub shows us:
How to Build a Simple ActivityPub Reminder Bot in Python.
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
TechCrunch reports:
Bluesky says itâs getting more aggressive about moderation and enforcement
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- Thatâs 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 even our future home in 2026, if you want a head start.
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
#ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Mastodon #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism
10 years ago russians were violating Turkish air space, and got warned, and they ignored. Then Turkey shot down their jet, killing one pilot. And russians stopped.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Russian_Sukhoi_Su-24_shootdown
Destroying Autocracy â September 18, 2025
Welcome to this weekâs âDestroying Autocracyâ.
Itâs 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 mediaâs 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 canât 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 âem.
The Programmerâs Fulcrum is the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy, Developing the OMN.
You can sign up now and for 2025 get an email with links to and featured articles for each weekâs Symfony Station CommuniquĂ© and Battalion âDestroying Autocracyâ post along with their featured articles. And youâll be set with TPF after the fusing.
Featured Item
Bogdan (the man) the Geek shares:
Hosting a Website on a Disposable Vape
Well motherfuck. đ€Ż Thatâs anarchic as hell. đ
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russiaâs War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
The Kyiv Independent reports:
Ukrainian âcyber revengeâ hack disrupts Russian election systems, HUR source claims
Ukraine tests new kamikaze drones resistant to Russian jamming
El Pais reports:
xWiki reports:
Europeâs digital sovereignty blueprint: from dependency to autonomy
Open_Future reports:
How data center expansion risks derailing climate goals and what to do about it
The Torment Nexus reports:
On Nepalâs Discord election and social-media driven uprisings
Ethan Marcotte shares:
Against the protection of stocking frames.
This regards viewing AI as the failed technology that it is.
Neutral
TechCrunch reports:
California lawmakers pass AI safety bill SB 53 â but Newsom could still veto
MIT Technology Review reports:
The looming crackdown on AI companionship
Gothamist reports:
TikTok, Instagram may request selfie to verify age under proposed NY rules
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
Break Through News reports:
TechCrunch reports:
Hereâs the tech powering ICEâs deportation crackdown
The Register reports:
Trump backpedals as Hyundai factory ICE raid enrages South Korea
The incompetent left hand doesnât know what the asshole right hand is doing because the c^nt skull between them is empty.
UK Lords take aim at Ofcomâs âchild-protectionâ upgrades to Online Safety Act
Maybe they can unfuck it.
404 Media reports:
DOJ Deletes Study Showing Domestic Terrorists Are Most Often Right Wing
Sigh.
Forbes reports:
ICE Just Spent Millions On Surveillance Tech Banned By Facebook
Ars Technica reports:
FCC derided as âFederal Censorship Commissionâ after pushing Jimmy Kimmel off ABC
TechDirt reports:
TikTok To Be Sold To Trumpâs Right Wing Billionaire Buddies And Converted Into A Propaganda Mill
Pariah States
The Register reports:
Nork snoops whip up fake South Korean military ID with help from ChatGPT
Ars Technica reports:
Two of the Kremlinâs most active hack groups are collaborating, ESET says
Inter SecLab shares:
TechCrunch reports:
Israel announces seizure of $1.5M from crypto wallets tied to Iran
C^nts on c^nts action.
Speaking of, DarkReading reports:
Iranian State APT Blitzes Telcos & Satellite Companies
Big Media
Free Software Foundation Europe reports:
Legal Corner: The War on Ad Blockers â Axel Springerâs Assault on User Freedom
TechPolicy reports:
How Google Paid the Media Millions to Avoid Regulatory Pressure
Deutsche Welle reports:
ChatEurope: Whatâs the Status of Europeâs AI-driven News Bot?
TechDirt reports:
The Washington Post Fires Its Last Black Opinion Columnist For Directly Quoting A Bigot
90% of newspapers suck now. Isnât that sad. TV has always sucked but you used to find decent papers everywhere.
Big Tech
TechCrunch reports:
Karen Hao on the Empire of AI, AGI evangelists, and the cost of belief
EuroNews reports:
French streamer Deezer reveals that 28 per cent of music uploaded to platform is AI-generated
WTF. At least they hide it.
The EEF reports:
Our Stop Censoring Abortion Campaign Uncovers a Social Media Censorship Crisis
BleepingComputer reports:
Google nukes 224 Android malware apps behind massive ad fraud campaign
Please use open-source F-droid apps not Android ones.
New FileFix attack uses steganography to drop StealC malware
Donât use Meta, bitches.
Ars Technica reports:
âChina keeps the algorithmâ: Critics attack Trumpâs TikTok deal
So corporate America gets to further enshittify the user experience while supposedly maintaining privacy (ha!) and China gets to continue the misinformation and propaganda with the algorithm. Great deal.
Cybersecurity/Privacy
404 Media reports:
Airlines Sell 5 Billion Plane Ticket Records to the Government For Warrantless Searching
Thereâs nothing we can do about this type of c^ntness.
ChatGPT Will Guess Your Age and Might Require ID for Age Verification
You can control this. Donât use AI horseshit.
Microsoft and Cloudflare disrupt massive RaccoonO365 phishing service
DarkReading reports:
âShadowLeakâ ChatGPT Attack Allows Hackers to Invisibly Steal Emails
Fediverse
Connected Places has:
IFTAS has:
IFTAS Responds to the European Commissionâs Review of the Digital Markets Act
ActivityPub for WordPress has:
Help Shape the Future of Moderation in the Fediverse
This poll may be closed now, but please join me and donate to IFTAS.
7.4.0 â More Control, Less Waiting
Mastodon.world has:
September 2025: Updates for the .worlds and call for donations
Donate to your instances. The reason they donât suck is that they arenât monetized and thus enshittified.
Mastodon has:
Service offerings from Mastodon
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
Connected Places has:
âBlueskyismâ, Political Violence, and Open Social Networks Under Authoritarianism
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- Thatâs 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 even our future home in 2026, if you want a head start.
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
#ActivityPub #AI #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Mastodon #RSS #Signal #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism
#Ukraine today. Russian missile strikes National University of Pharmacy in the city of Kharkiv. #StopRussia #StandWithUkraine
đ» ХлаĐČĐ° ĐŁĐșŃĐ°ŃĐœŃ- #EU #NATO #Georgia #Moldova #StandWithUkraine #StopRussia #Fellas #NAFO #Blyatniks #CancelRussia #CancelUN #PutinWarCriminal #đșđŠ-in-đȘđș#russiaisaterroriststate #russiaiscollapsing
Article original: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:hjnftvy2bqhs7ffh7nwii737/post/3lyo6euz46k2a
đ» ХлаĐČĐ° ĐŁĐșŃĐ°ŃĐœŃ- #EU #NATO #Georgia #Moldova #StandWithUkraine #StopRussia #Fellas #NAFO #Blyatniks #CancelRussia #CancelUN #PutinWarCriminal #đșđŠ-in-đȘđș#russiaisaterroriststate #russiaiscollapsing
Article original: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:y4zs4cabaezzwx3bz2e5nnj2/post/3lynyt6h6lm2m
Destroying Autocracy â September 11, 2025
Welcome to this weekâs âDestroying Autocracyâ.
Itâs 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 mediaâs 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 canât 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 âem.
The Programmerâs Fulcrum is the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy, Developing the OMN.
You can sign up now and for 2025 get an email with links to and featured articles for each weekâs Symfony Station CommuniquĂ© and Battalion âDestroying Autocracyâ post along with their featured articles. And youâll be set with TPF after the fusing.
Featured Item
Dave Rupert writes and asks:
I think my answer to âWhy would anybody start a website (in 2025)?â is the same answer for the content creator in the age of AI problem: I donât know, but you gotta want to.
Money sweetens the deal when making content or websites, but weâve shaken the money tree pretty hard over the last couple decades and itâs looking bare.
Increasingly, youâve got to find other sources of inspiration to make a website â which by the way are still the coolest fucking things ever.
Why would anybody start a website?
To join the Open Media Network for one.
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russiaâs War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
Speaking of websites, the Columbia Journalism Review has:
Tom Ley Thinks More People Should Experience Worker-Owned Journalism
The Next Web reports:
Reclaiming the stack: Europeâs bid for digital sovereignty
The Register reports:
Big clouds scramble as EU Data Act brings new data transfer rules
Heisse reports:
400 scientists speak out against chat control
Europe is better than anywhere else, but it isnât perfect.
The Guardian reports:
âIt is a war of drones nowâ: the ever-evolving tech dominating the frontline in Ukraine
Lawmaker calls for French criminal investigation into TikTok
EU fines Google nearly âŹ3bn for âabusingâ dominant position in ad tech
Speaking of, Tech Policy reports:
Empowered Workers Are a Bulwark Against Illegal Monopoly
Ars Technica reports:
Judge: Anthropicâs $1.5B settlement is being shoved âdown the throat of authorsâ
Pay-per-output? AI firms blindsided by beefed up robots.txt instructions.
Ben Werdmuller examines:
This is the type of content we will feature in The Programmerâs Fulcrum in 2026.
Make Use of shares:
I stopped using Gmail for this built-in client and now Gmail feels stuck
Here is a TAM lite tool for you.
Mojeek announces:
Mojeek is Not an Answer Engine
Tuta shares:
Chat Control is back & weâve got one month to stop the EU CSAM scanning plans.
The Counterforce has a guide:
Signal For Punks (it has Stories now!)
I describe myself as 25% intellectual, 25% bohemian, 25% hillbilly, and 25% punk so this appeals to me. đ
Neutral
The Observer reports:
Nick Clegg and Tim Berners-Lee: the battle for the soul of the internet
Tech Policy reports:
Washington and Brussels Vie for Control Over Big Tech
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
404 Media reports:
ICE Spends Millions on Clearview AI Facial Recognition to Find People âAssaultingâ Officers
The Kyiv Independent reports:
US steps back from joint efforts to combat misinformation, FT reports
TechDirt reports:
UK Age Verification Data Confirms What Critics Always Predicted: Mass Migration To Sketchier Sites
The Register reports:
Senator demands to know status of âduplicateâ Social Security database âimmediatelyâ
Nextcloud reports:
The proposed EU Chat Control law is a threat to our democracy. What can you do to prevent it?
EuroNews reports:
Pro-Kremlin operation weaponises investigative media to claim Ukraine uses orphans to clear mines
Pariah States
BleepingComputer reports:
Czech cyber agency warns against Chinese tech in critical infrastructure
The Christian Science Monitor reports:
Why some Israeli journalists only now are turning a lens on Gaza devastation
Krebs on Security reports:
Bulletproof Host Stark Industries Evades EU Sanctions
The Register reports:
Beijing went to âEggStremeâ lengths to attack Philippines military, researchers say
DarkReading reports:
Chinese Hackers Allegedly Pose as US Lawmaker
Big Media
The Guardian reports:
âExistential crisisâ: how Googleâs shift to AI has upended the online news model
TechDirt reports:
Big Tech
Tech Policy reports:
How Big Techâs âInvisible Handâ Reaches Latin American Regulators
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Age Verification Is A Windfall for Big TechâAnd A Death Sentence For Smaller Platforms
Anil Dash opines:
How Tim Cook sold out Steve Jobs
The Register reports:
EU regulators let Microsoft off the hook after Teams unbundling pledge
Again, big tech canât be reformed. It has to be destroyed.
Itâs AI all the way down as Googleâs AI cites web pages written by AI
The Markup reports:
Google wasnât against this privacy bill, officially. Behind the scenes, it orchestrated opposition
The Guardian reports:
How thousands of âoverworked, underpaidâ humans train Googleâs AI to seem smart
Impact of chatbots on mental health is warning over future of AI, expert says
Meta hid harms to children from VR products, whistleblowers allege
Reuters reports:
Meta put virtual-reality profit over kidsâ safety, whistleblowers tell US Congress
The BBC reports:
Meta to stop its AI chatbots from talking to teens about suicide
404 Media reports:
Instagram Account Promotes Holocaust Denial T-Shirts to 400,000 Followers
Ars Technica has:
Former WhatsApp security boss in lawsuit likens Metaâs culture to a âcultâ
EchoStar to sell spectrum to SpaceX after FCC threatened to revoke licenses
AI vs. MAGA: Populists alarmed by Trumpâs embrace of AI, Big Tech
Even blind fascist squirrels find a nut sometimes.
SAN reports:
Not so secret: Xâs new encrypted chat feature puts users at risk, experts say
Cybersecurity/Privacy
Signal announces:
Introducing Signal Secure Backups
La Quadrature reports:
In France, the eternal return of facial recognition
The Register reports:
Drift massive attack traced back to loose Salesloft GitHub account
In crypto bro FAFO news, BleepingComputer reports:
Hackers hijack npm packages with 2 billion weekly downloads in supply chain attack
DDoS defender targeted in 1.5 Bpps denial-of-service attack
DarkReading reports:
Without Federal Help, Cyber Defense Is Up to the Rest of Us
Fediverse
Connected Places has:
Fedihost looks at:
PeerTube announces:
The Nexus of Privacy shares:
This is what solidarity looks like
Mastodon has updates:
NodeBB shares a:
Progress update for Conversational Contexts
A New Social announces:
Launch: Notifications from Unbridged Users
RSS
Buttondown remembers:
The story of how RSS beat Microsoft
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
Connected Spaces opines:
On discourse and decentralisation
Personally I view Bluesky as only slightly better than Shitter (drastically fewer c^nts) with a 97.4% chance of becoming enshittified. However, Blacksky has given me a little hope for ATProto at least.
I would also like to point out 96.525% of people on the Fediverse donât give a fuck about Bluesky and 99.912% of people on Bluesky donât give a fuck about the Fediverse.
TechCrunch reports:
Bluesky adds private bookmarks
Bluesky will comply with age-verification laws in South Dakota and Wyoming after exiting Mississippi
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- Thatâs 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 even our future home in 2026, if you want a headstart.
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
#ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Mastodon #NodeBB #Peertube #RSS #Signal #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism
NATO must respond EFFECTIVELY. A weak response to Russia's repeated incursion into Polish airspace (this was no "error") will only embolden Putin further.
Thing is, Russia is already at war with the West. When will people realize it?
#Poland #Russia #NATO #StopRussia #StopPutin #StopKrasnov
#DonaldTrumpIsARussianAsset
Yarova. 21 civilian killed in a precision strike by russian airbomb.
Yes. They just killed civilians in a brutal deliberate attack, knowingly.
The military whoâs doing this â howâs life? Howâs your families doing? All good? Got some sweets for the salary?
Destroying Autocracy â September 04, 2025
Welcome to this weekâs âDestroying Autocracyâ.
Itâs 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 mediaâs 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 canât 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 âem.
The Programmerâs Fulcrum is the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy.
You can sign up now and for 2025 get an email with links to and featured articles for each weekâs Symfony Station CommuniquĂ© and Battalion âDestroying Autocracyâ post along with their featured articles. And youâll be set with TPF after the fusing.
Featured Item
Scripting of WordLand fame writes:
I want you to see WordPress as comparable to Bluesky or Mastodon.
Internally, the software, WordPress, Mastodon, Bluesky, do a lot of the same things. But because WordPress is so long-lived relative to the other two, itâs more complete, scaled, and it federates easily. Lots of people do it.
WordPress also has excellent support for RSS, especially using a little-known feature called rssCloud. It enables real-time notification of new or changed feed items. And has a deep and powerful API. Itâs well designed, documented, and they donât break it.
BTW, Mastodon and Bluesky lack these.
Think Different about WordPress
Hamish Campbell has made a similar point.
This article is the type of coverage we will feature on The Fulcrum in 2026.
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russiaâs War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
BleepingComputer reports:
Amazon disrupts Russian APT29 hackers targeting Microsoft 365
EU fines Google $3.5 billion for anti-competitive ad practices
Platypush shares:
Create private self-hosted email aliases on the fly
Les Numeriques reports:
EDRi shares:
EU citizens, please give your input.
Internet Exchange opines:
True.
The Register reports:
SAP splashes âŹ20B on Euro sovereign cloud push
France fines Google, SHEIN for undercooked cookie policies that led to crummy privacy
UK government trial of M365 Copilot finds no clear productivity boost
Reg readers have spoken: 93% back move away from Microsoft in UK public sector
Now make your politicians do something about it.
String Literal discusses:
Options for Phones at Protests
DarkReading reports:
How Gray-Zone Hosting Companies Protect Data the US Wants Erased
The Atlantic reports:
The Anti-Trump Strategy Thatâs Actually Working
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Victory! Ninth Circuit Limits Intrusive DMCA Subpoenas
CIO reports:
31% of employees are âsabotagingâ your gen AI strategy
This need to be around 81%.
Privacy Guides shares:
âWe (Donât) Care About Your Privacyâ
Neutral
Micah Flee opines:
Unfortunately, the ICEBlock app is activism theater
Hopefully, the app developer will quit ignoring its users and constructive criticism and salvage this project.
TechPolicy promotes:
Advancing Democracy as a Digital Public Service
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
TechCrunch reports:
ICE reactivates contract with spyware maker Paragon
Arrs Technica reports:
FCC chair teams up with Ted Cruz to block Wi-Fi hotspots for schoolkids
404 Media reports:
Congress Pushes DHS for Details on ICEâs New Facial Recognition App
Pariah States
EuroNews reports:
Russian propaganda is âovertakingâ legitimate news in the Czech Republic
Online disinformation intensifies ahead of Moldovan parliamentary elections
DarkReading reports:
Russiaâs APT28 Targets Microsoft Outlook With âNotDoorâ Malware
Czech Warning Highlights China Stealing User Data
The Register reports:
Internet mapping and research outfit Censys reveals state-based abuse, harassment
China-aligned crew poisons Windows servers to manipulate Google results
Big Media
EuroNews reports:
Can the EU implement its new press freedom law?
Ben Werdmuller asks:
Can newsrooms become social platforms?
Great stuff.
Poytner reports:
Inescapable technology changes and a migrating audience have local broadcast news in trouble
NiemanLab reports:
Trusted news sites may benefit in an internet full of AI-generated fakes, a new study finds
Journalism reports:
Because Suckstack is enshittified.
Big Tech
Reuters reports:
Meta to launch California super PAC backing pro-AI candidates
EuroNews reports:
Is Meta failing to protect users from the distribution of non-consensual images?
Tech Policy reports:
How AI Upended a Historic Antitrust Case Against Google
Ars Technica reports:
Judge: Google can keep Chrome, must share search data with âqualified competitorsâ
Sigh. More proof that surveillance tech cannot be reformed. It must be destroyed.
Once again, please explore our Techno Anarchist Manifesto for what you can do.
The Register reports:
AI web crawlers are destroying websites in their never-ending hunger for any and all content
Alan Smith reports on:
Infrequently reports on:
Appleâs Assault on Standards
Cybersecurity/Privacy
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
From Libraries to Schools: Why Organizations Should Install Privacy Badger
The Register reports:
In the rush to adopt hot new tech, security is often forgotten. AI is no exception
Who watches the watchmen? Surveillanceware firms make bank, avoid oversight
EU courtâs dismissal of US data transfer challenge raises privacy advocatesâ ire
Congressional panel throws cyber threat intel-sharing, funding a lifeline
Signal reports:
European Commission internally recommends Signal with disappearing messages
BleepingComputer reports:
Threat actors abuse Xâs Grok AI to spread malicious links
Of course.
DarkReading reports:
Phishing Empire Runs Undetected on Google, Cloudflare
Fediverse
Connected Places has:
Social Media Alternative reviews:
HOPE and Alternative Social Media
WriteFreely announces:
FediHost demonstrates:
The Register reports:
Matrix.org homeserver grinds to a halt after RAID meltdown
The Nexus of Privacy shares:
Improving accessibility in the Fediverse and the ATmosphere
NodeBB shares a:
Progress update for Conversational Contexts
A New Social announces:
TechCrunch reports:
Threads challenges X by offering free support for up to 10K characters, plus prominent links
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
Connected Places has:
Substack and the risk of disruption
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- Thatâs 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 even our future home in 2026, if you want a headstart.
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
#ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Mastodon #Matrix #Peertube #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SubStack #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism #Threads #WordPress #WriteFreely
Destroying Autocracy â August 28, 2025
Welcome to this weekâs âDestroying Autocracyâ.
Itâs 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 mediaâs 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 canât 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 âem.
As noted before, starting next year I am willing to spend 10 hours weekly on The Programmerâs Fulcrum. Itâs the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy.
You can sign up now and for 2025 get an email with links to and featured articles for each weekâs Symfony Station CommuniquĂ© and Battalion âDestroying Autocracyâ post along with their featured articles. And youâll be set with TPF after the fusing. I appreciate all of you.
Featured Item
In a late addition, Connected Places writes:
Building a decentralised network like the fediverse thus means not only building a social network that spreads out over many different nodes, but also building an infrastructure for the network to run on that is itself decentralised. Whatâs happening to SocialHub is symptomatic of this broader tension, where these decentralised systems promise to distribute power, but they still need coordination mechanisms to function.
SocialHub and the Substrate of Decentralised Networks
Nate Matias has this great story of perseverance:
Thatâs when I got an email from Enel X Way, an Italian power company, that the software in the boxes that charge our cars would be disconnected in just a few short weeks. I immediately thought of Mark, whose medical care required reliable travel to the nearby city of Syracuse.
Across our entire neighborhood, forty homes had exactly the same box, many supported by a New York State electric charging grant. And now all of us were about to have tens of thousands of dollars in critical infrastructure lose functionality â infrastructure we relied on to get to work, access medical care, and live our daily lives.
Escaping the chains of tethered products: the Juice Rescue project
Great stuff!
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russiaâs War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
The Kyiv Independent reports:
Deutsche Welle reports on:
AIâs role in Ukrainian wartime media
ic3 announces:
404 Media reports:
Attorneys General To AI Chatbot Companies: You Will âAnswer For Itâ If You Harm Children
EuroNews reports:
EU defends sovereign right to regulate tech against Trumpâs latest tariff threat
EU tech chief to âfight backâ against Trumpâs allegations, Commission says
Amnesty calls on governments to reign in Big Tech. But as Trumpâs tech threat looms, will they?
Bits of Freedom reports:
Vivaldi announces:
Vivaldi takes a stand: keep browsing human
Literally awesome.
TechPolicy reports:
Perspective Europe Cannot Wait to Fight Trumpâs Assault on Democracy
In fuck up Techno Feudalism news, XDA Developers share:
Syncthing ruined cloud storage for me in the best possible way
And OMG Ununtu reviews:
Zen Browser â What Mozilla Firefox Should Be?
I use it and love it.
And Ars Technica reports:
Framework Laptop 16 update brings Nvidia GeForce to the modular gaming laptop
They also have:
Authors celebrate âhistoricâ settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
APC reports:
Full disclosure: Marking a legal victory for big tech transparency in South Korea
TechCrunch reports:
Microsoft headquarters go into lockdown after activists take over Brad Smithâs office
Boycotting all Microsoft and Israeli products will achieve more than stunts. But publicity from them could result in more boycotts.
US sanctions fraud network used by North Korean âremote IT workersâ to seek jobs and steal money
Neutral
TechPolicy has:
Why We Need a Carnegie Moment for the Age of AI
To Create Transparency Regulation for Digital Platforms, Look to Lessons from Other Sectors
The Guardian asks:
Is the AI boom finally starting to slow down?
If only hopes and prayers worked.
TechCrunch reports:
OpenAI co-founder calls for AI labs to safety-test rival models
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Face Scans to Estimate Our Age: Harmful and Creepy AF
Cloud68 reports:
Chat Control: A Threat to Privacy that Does not Solve the Core Issue
The Intercept has:
Accepted at Universities, Unable to Get Visas: Inside Trumpâs War on International Students
The Dissenter reports:
ACLU Demands US Court Immediately Order Release Of Journalist In ICE Detention
404 Media reports:
CBP Had Access to More than 80,000 Flock AI Cameras Nationwide
Flock Wants to Partner With Consumer Dashcam Company That Takes âTrillions of Imagesâ a Month
TechCrunch reports:
The Guardian reports:
Trump threatens tariffs on countries that âdiscriminateâ against US tech
TechPolicy reports:
Ars Technica reports:
FCC chairman helps AT&T cement dominance with $23 billion spectrum deal
Pariah States
The Register reports:
AWS catches Russiaâs Cozy Bear clawing at Microsoft credentials
BleepingComputer reports:
New Android malware poses as antivirus from Russian intelligence agency
Silk Typhoon hackers hijack network captive portals in diplomat attacks
Poynter reports:
Five more journalists were killed covering the war in Gaza
Big Media
NiemanLab reports:
The next internet for news? Publishers gather to discuss protocols over platforms
Staying true to American media technical incompetence traditions, they advocate for ATProto. The Open Media Network advocates for ActivityPub.
Big Tech
OS News reports:
Have I ever said, fuck Google. Peeps, please get a Linux or de-googled Android device and only use f-droid apps.
TechCrunch reports:
Security researcher maps hundreds of TeslaMate servers spilling Tesla vehicle data
Infrequently reports:
Forbes reports:
Intel Worked With Chinese Firms Sanctioned For Enabling Human Rights Abuses
TheNextWeb has:
Opinion: Trusting an unverified AI agent is like handing your keys to a drunk graduate
404 Media reports:
Imgurâs Community Is In Full Revolt Against Its Owner
Have these folks not heard of Pixelfed? đ
Futurism reports:
OpenAI Says Itâs Scanning Usersâ ChatGPT Conversations and Reporting Content to the Police
Cybersecurity/Privacy
Rebecca Williams shares:
Ars Technica reports:
Senator castigates federal judiciary for ignoring âbasic cybersecurityâ
EuroNews reports:
AI is increasing cyberattacks worldwide and Europe is one of the hardest hit regions. This is why.
The Register reports:
ZipLine attack uses âContact Usâ forms, White House butler pic to invade sensitive industries
Microsoft canât guarantee data sovereignty â OVHcloud says âWe told you soâ
Putin on the code: DoD reportedly relies on utility written by Russian dev
Crims laud Claude to plant ransomware and fake IT expertise
Fediverse
Connected Places has:
Some thoughts on Bsky, age verification and Mississippi law
We Distribute reports:
Social Web Foundation is Betting Big on Client-to-Server API
Good.
Activity Pub has:
Handing off activitypub.rocks to the ActivityPub community
ActivityPub for WordPress has:
Hamish Campbell has:
The stubborn few who show up with shovels, laptops, and trust
Path and Patches shares:
TechCrunch reports:
Threads tests a way to share long-form text on the platform
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
NiemanLab reports:
TechCrunch reports:
Bounce launches a service for moving accounts between Bluesky and Mastodon
The New Public reports:
Social mediaâs next evolution: decentralized, open-source, and scalable
I donât usually share items from the Nazi bar but since this is by the founder of Blacksky, Iâm making an exception.
Ars Technica reports:
Bluesky now platform of choice for science community
At least itâs not Shitter.
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- Thatâs 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 even our future home in 2026, if you want a headstart.
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
#131 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Mastodon #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism #WordPress
(2) Cambodia flew 29 Japanese nationals to Japan for attempted fraud.
(3) Prime Minister Ishiba said Japan will do its best to help out Ukraine, but clarified that his countryâs constitution restricts overseas military action.
#japannews #explorejapan #japanesepolitics #discoveryjapan #japantravels #æ„æŹć„œăăȘäșșăšçčăăăă #ăăăăŠăăăŸă #expatsinjapan #foreignerinjapan #rorshokjapan #è±èȘćŠçż #ăă„ăŒăč #è±èȘććŒ· #learnenglishdaily #fraud #scam #cambodia #shigeruishiba #supportukraine #stoprussia #nato
Destroying Autocracy â August 21, 2025
Welcome to this weekâs âDestroying Autocracyâ.
Itâs 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 mediaâs 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 canât 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 âem.
As noted last week, I am willing to spend 10 of my retirement hours weekly on The Programmerâs Fulcrum. Itâs the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy.
You can sign up now and for 2025 get an email with links to and featured articles for each weekâs Symfony Station CommuniquĂ© and Battalion âDestroying Autocracyâ post. And youâll be set with TPF after the fusing.
Featured Item
Hamish Campbell writes:
The geek answer (bad faith or blindness): âIf only everyone learned to code, then society would be fairer.â
The activist answer: Code is part of the landscape, but culture, governance, and lived practice matter more. We donât escape domination by teaching more people to type commands, we escape by changing what we do together with the tools.
Why âteach everyone to codeâ has become a dead-end slogan â itâs been tried, itâs been funded, and yet it hasnât shifted power one bit. If anything, itâs reinforced the tech priesthood instead of breaking it.
Why âteach everyone to codeâ has become a dead-end slogan
Remember, as I mentioned in the TechnoAnarchist Manifesto, tech is now the major religion on earth.
As far as what programmers should do, he has:
Activist tech has been stuck in a defensive crouch
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russiaâs War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
NextCloud reports:
Schleswig-Holsteinâs âDeutschland-Stackâ vision for a digitally independent Germany
EuroNews reports:
Cash is king: Why does the eurozone need a digital euro?
The San Francisco Public Press reports:
California Pushes AI Regulation as Experts Reveal Looming Dangers
The Guardian reports:
Microsoft workers occupy HQ in protest against companyâs ties to Israeli military
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Victory! Ninth Circuit Limits Intrusive DMCA Subpoenas
Victory! Pen-Linkâs Police Tools Are Not Secret
Fourth Amendment Victory: Michigan Supreme Court Reins in Digital Device Fishing Expeditions
Internet Exchange reports:
Shaping a Profession, Building a Community
TechPolicy reports:
The TAKE IT DOWN Act Is US Law. Platforms Must Do More Than The Bare Minimum
BleepingComputer reports:
U.S. seizes $2.8 million in crypto from Zeppelin ransomware operator
The Conversation reports:
Poytner reports:
Poynterâs MediaWise launches new initiative to combat extremism in online gaming spaces
The Register reports:
Someoneâs poking the bear with infostealers targeting Russian crypto developers
US cops wrap up RapperBot, one of worldâs biggest DDoS-for-hire rackets
TechCrunch reports:
Hackers who exposed North Korean government hacker explain why they did it
Ecosia has offered to take âstewardshipâ of Chrome. And itâs not a bad idea.
Great idea, hence it will go nowhere.
Fortune reports:
MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing
đ
EuroNews reports:
Austrian newspaperâs pay or consent model violates EU privacy rules: court
The Association of Progressive Communications reports:
Brazil explores ways to hold platforms accountable in court and beyond
Bom!
Neutral
TechPolicy reports:
We Need to Control Personal AI Data So Personal AI Cannot Control Us
The Next Web reports:
Europe can lead the world in legal AI â by out-regulating everyone else
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
TechPolicy reports:
How US Officials Are Pressuring Europe Over Its Platform Regulations
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
President Trumpâs War on âWoke AIâ Is a Civil Liberties Nightmare
The Intercept reports:
ICE hunts down immigrants by spying on their wire transfers
The Register reports:
End well, this wonât: UK commissioner suggests govt stops kids from using VPNs
United Kuntdumb tech logic: if something is shite, letâs fix it by making it worse.
TechCrunch reports:
Judge says FTC investigation into Media Matters âshould alarm all Americansâ
404 Media reports:
The Government Just Made it Harder for The Public to Comment on Regulations
Global Voices reports:
The politics and people behind Balochistan, Pakistanâs internet shutdowns
Hide Me reports:
âChat Controlâ: The EU is about to read every message you send
Pariah States
Politico reports:
Russia is quietly churning out fake content posing as US news
And plenty of American stooges are spreading the shit.
Radio Free Europe reports:
Report: Russian Sabotage Operations In Europe Have Quadrupled Since 2023
DarkReading reports:
Europeâs Ransomware Surge Is a Warning Shot for US Defenders
CrowdStrike reports:
MURKY PANDA: A Trusted-Relationship Threat in the Cloud
BleepingComputer reports:
XenoRAT malware campaign hits multiple embassies in South Korea
Big Media
The Guardian reports:
How German media outlets helped pave the way for Israelâs murder of journalists in Gaza
I think fascism is just in the water in Germany. Like racism in America.
EuroNews reports:
Finlandâs war on fake news starts in schools. AI could make that a lot harder.
Big Tech
The Atlantic reports:
Wok reports:
Google is killing the open web
Not a Tech Bro reports:
The Register reports:
Google yet to take down âscreenshot-grabbingâ Chrome VPN extension
The Markup reports:
We caught companies making it harder to delete your personal data online
Data brokers face new pressure for hiding opt-out pages from Google
The Guardian reports:
Meta faces backlash over AI policy that lets bots have âsensualâ conversations with children
404 Media reports:
Grok Exposes Underlying Prompts for Its AI Personas
TikTok Shop Sells Viral GPS Trackers Marketed to Stalkers
Jimmy Wales Says Wikipedia Could Use AI. Editors Call It the âAntithesis of Wikipediaâ
Cybersecurity/Privacy
The Register reports:
Every question you ask, every comment you make, Iâll be recording you
Nice song reference. đ
BleepingComputer reports:
Okta open-sources catalog of Auth0 rules for threat detection
Mozilla announces:
CRLite: Fast, private, and comprehensive certificate revocation checking in Firefox
Factorial reports:
DDoS Attacks on NGOs: When Digital Infrastructure Becomes a Vulnerability
Heisse reports:
Copyright: Springer vs Adblock Plus enters another round
Socket reports:
Researcher Exposes Zero-Day Clickjacking Vulnerabilities in Major Password Managers
Fediverse
Applied Social Media Lab reports:
We Distribute reports:
CrowdBucks is a new payment system for the Fediverse
It needs some.
DeadSuperHero has:
Hamish Campbell explains:
Why Most Fediverse Codebases Are Languishing
The London School of Economics asks:
Are newsletters the new academic social media?
Niche, but interesting.
David Roetzel is:
Taking a Fresh Look at the Fediverse
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
Connected Places has:
Kuba Suder shares an:
TechCrunch reports:
Bluesky blocks service in Mississippi over age assurance law
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- Thatâs 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 even our future home in 2026, if you want a headstart.
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
#ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Mastodon #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism
Client Info
Server: https://mastodon.social
Version: 2025.07
Repository: https://github.com/cyevgeniy/lmst