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
TechDirt writes:
Over the last year or so I’ve seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump train.
Yes, there are the big name folks who everyone knows about and who didn’t really surprise anyone—Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Elon Musk (pre-fallout)—but the more troubling trend has been watching younger entrepreneurs and VCs listen to their podcasts, read their posts and books, and slowly nod along to the idea that democracy is holding back innovation.
Fascism For First Time Founders
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russia’s War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
BleepingComputer reports:
Ukraine arrests suspected admin of XSS Russian hacking forum
Radio Free Europe reports:
Drone Attacks Even The Odds For Ukrainian Frontline Units
BitDefender reports:
Europol targets Kremlin-backed cybercrime gang NoName057(16)
Bruce Lawson reports:
CMA designates Google and Apple, proposes measures
TechCentral reports:
Italy takes Meta, X and LinkedIn to court over unpaid tax
404 Media reports:
Hacker Plants Computer ‘Wiping’ Commands in Amazon’s AI Coding Agent
Archivists Recreate Pre-Trump CDC Website, Are Hosting It in Europe
The Register reports:
Radio geeks reveal how to access crucial hurricane data after US Department of Defense cut it off
The Register reports:
AI data-suckers would have to ask permission first under new bill
Laptop farmer behind $17M North Korean IT worker scam locked up for 8.5 years
TechPolicy reports:
The Case for Europe’s Backing of Digital Civil Society Groups
Open_Future shares:
Licensing, Levies, and the Limits of Copyright
Open Forum Europe announces:
TechCrunch reports:
Meta to stop selling political ads in the EU from October
Hopefully they will leave the EU altogether.
DarkReading reports:
Stop AI Bot Traffic: Protecting Your Organization’s Website
Speaking of your websites, LocalGhost has:
This page is under construction: a love letter to the personal website
Hamish Campbell has:
The Open Media Network: More Than Just a Tech Project
This is what your site could be a part of.
Neutral
TechPolicy reports:
Brazil Has a Bridge to Defending the Internet
The Financial Times:
UK government seeks way out of clash with US over Apple encryption
When you have three sets of c^nts involved, it’s hard to know who to route for.
TechPolicy opines:
Enforcement of EU’s Tech Laws Should Not Be Traded Away
And they are right.
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
So-called newspaper, The Wall Street Journal reports:
White House Prepares Executive Order Targeting ‘Woke AI’
MIT Technology Review reports:
America’s AI watchdog is losing its bite
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Axon’s Draft One is Designed to Defy Transparency
Canada’s Bill C-2 Opens the Floodgates to U.S. Surveillance
EuroNews reports:
UK online legislation could threaten Wikipedia volunteer safety, group to argue in court
Pariah States
The Register reports:
UK uncovers novel Microsoft snooping malware, blames and sanctions GRU cyberspies
Silicon Valley engineer admits theft of US missile tech secrets
Four new Android spyware samples linked to Iran’s intel agency
TechCrunch reports:
A surveillance vendor was caught exploiting a new SS7 attack to track people’s phone locations
Hackers exploiting SharePoint zero-day seen targeting government agencies
BleepingComputer reports:
Microsoft links Sharepoint ToolShell attacks to Chinese hackers
Big Media
Today in Tabs reports:
Billionaires Destroyed American News Media On Purpose
Mother Jones reports:
Colbert’s Cancellation Is a Dark Warning
Ars Technica reports:
Skydance deal allows Trump’s FCC to “censor speech” and “silence dissent” on CBS
Nieman Labs reports:
Akademie shares:
Investigating AI datasets: A journalist’s guide
Big Tech
Where’s Your ‘Ed shares:
The Hater’s Guide To The AI Bubble
🙂
The Next Web reports:
ChatGPT advises women to ask for lower salaries, study finds
404 Media reports:
A Startup is Selling Data Hacked from Peoples’ Computers to Debt Collectors
Spotify Publishes AI-Generated Songs From Dead Artists Without Permission
Google’s AI Is Destroying Search, the Internet, and Your Brain
Grindr Won’t Let Users Say ‘No Zionists’
EuroNews reports:
Meta ran ads that fundraised for Israeli Defence Forces, analysis shows
Meta won’t sign EU’s AI Code, but who will?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Amazon Ring Cashes in on Techno-Authoritarianism and Mass Surveillance
Ars Technica reports:
Researcher threatens X with lawsuit after falsely linking him to French probe
xAI workers balked over training request to help “give Grok a face,” docs show
Mistral’s new “environmental audit” shows how much AI is hurting the planet
Delta’s AI spying to “jack up” prices must be banned, lawmakers say
TechCrunch reports:
Microsoft says it will no longer use engineers in China for Department of Defense work
For privacy and security, think twice before granting AI access to your personal data
Terror
The Register reports:
IRL Com recruits teens for real-life stabbings, shootings, FBI warns
Cybersecurity/Privacy
TechCrunch reports:
Serial spyware founder Scott Zuckerman wants the FTC to unban him from the surveillance industry
BleepingComputer reports:
CISA and FBI warn of escalating Interlock ransomware attacks
DarkReading reports:
Translating Cyber-Risk for the Boardroom
Privacy Guides reports:
I would have used spinach rather than the Tree of Doom. 😉
Platformer reports:
Is anyone left to defend trust and safety?
Fediverse
Connected Places has:
Fediverse Report – #126 July 22, 2025
Bonfire is:
Exploring a Bonfire Geosocial Extension
MarkWrites reflects on:
Mastodon announces:
If you are on the Fediverse please donate to your instance’s maintainers. Especially if they ask nicely.
Aphyr opines:
The Future of Forums is Lies, I Guess
Fediverse favorite, Elena Rossini shares:
The Future is Federated: Year 2
ActivityPub for WordPress has an update:
We Distribute has details:
WordPress-ActivityPub v 7.1.0 Introduces Following Capabilities
Randall Black show us:
How to Install and Set Up Castopod for Your Podcast
TechCrunch reports:
Threads adds improved content performance metrics for creators
Slightly Federated Social Media
The Register reports:
Selling your digital soul to use Bluesky’s DMs isn’t just a bad idea, it’s the law
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
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