Welcome to this week’s “Defending Democracy”.
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.
DD 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.
Featured Item
The FTC reports on:
AI and the Risk of Consumer Harm
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery
BleepingComputer reports:
Russian ISP confirms Ukrainian hackers “destroyed” its network
The Kyiv Independent reports:
US sanctions Orban ally Antal Rogan for corruption, abuse of power
Radio Free Europe reports:
Biden Slaps Broad Sanctions On Russian Energy Sector In Final Bid To Punish Kremlin
The Register reports:
Biden said to weigh global limits on AI exports in 11th-hour trade war blitz
The Verge reports:
U.S. designates Tencent and CATL as Chinese military companies
Tech Policy reports on:
A New Model for State Privacy Legislation
404 Media reports:
Telegram Hands U.S. Authorities Data on Thousands of Users
Reuters reports:
UK universities join retreat from Elon Musk’s X, citing misinformation on platform
TechCrunch reports:
Washington sues T-Mobile over 2021 data breach that spilled 79 million customer records
EU court fines European Commission for breaching its own data privacy laws
US government charges operators of crypto mixing service used by North Korea and ransomware gangs
Meta to phase back in political content on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads
Of course being Suckbook, they are going to c^nt it up. See below.
The Electronic Frontiers Foundation has:
EFF Statement on Meta’s Announcement of Revisions to Its Content Moderation Processes
They rethought this shortly there after:
The Guardian reports:
Brazil says Meta getting rid of factcheckers is ‘bad for democracy’
MIT Technology Review reports:
A New York legislator wants to pick up the pieces of the dead California AI bill
Ars Technica reports:
Google loses in court, faces trial for collecting data on users who opted out
Neutral
Tech Policy reports on:
The Politics of AI Innovation in the U.S. States
The Evil Empire Strikes Back
404 Media reports:
Researcher Turns Insecure License Plate Cameras Into Open Source Surveillance Tool
TechDirt reports:
Congressional Report Accuses Jordan, Musk Of Weaponizing Gov’t To Silence Critics
MSNBC reports:
Musk’s global project isn’t about politics. It’s about himself.
Pariah States
The Register reports:
Charter, Consolidated, Windstream reportedly join China’s Salt Typhoon victim list
Japanese Police claim China ran five-year cyberattack campaign targeting local orgs
DarkReading reports:
Russia Carves Out Commercial Surveillance Success Globally
Big Media
Joan Westenberg opines:
Everyone’s Buying the MAGA PICO Top
TechCrunch reports:
X hires former WSJ editor and bureau chief to lead news group
Big Tech
The Guardian reports:
How Elon Musk’s X became the global right’s supercharged front page
UserMag reports:
Instagram blocked teens from searching LGBTQ-related content for months
404 Media reports:
Facebook Is Censoring 404 Media Stories About Facebook’s Censorship
Instagram Begins Randomly Showing Users AI-Generated Images of Themselves
‘It’s Total Chaos Internally at Meta Right Now’: Employees Protest Zuckerberg’s Anti LGBTQ Changes
The Verge reports:
Meta abandons fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram in favor of Community Notes
Meta’s fact-checking changes are just what Trump’s FCC head asked for
Wired reports:
Meta’s Fact-Checking Partners Say They Were ‘Blindsided’ by Decision to Axe Them
TechCrunch reports:
Mark Zuckerberg gave Meta’s Llama team the OK to train on copyrighted works, filing claims
Told ya. C^ntness galore.
Terror
The Guardian reports:
Key Oath Keepers leader revealed as former Las Vegas police detective
Extremism in US military is ‘sleeping danger’ says author of Pentagon report
The Verge reports:
Las Vegas police release ChatGPT logs from the suspect in the Cybertruck explosion
Forward reports:
Scoop: Heritage Foundation plans to ‘identify and target’ Wikipedia editors
Cybersecurity/Privacy
404 Media reports:
Violent Hackers Are Using U-Haul To Dox Targets
MIT Technology Review reports on:
BleepingComputer reports:
CISA warns of critical Oracle, Mitel flaws exploited in attacks
DarkReading reports:
Zivver Report Reveals Critical Challenges in Email Security for 2025
Freelock reports
Privacy Big Picture: 6 ways privacy is changing
Fediverse
The Fediverse Report has:
Last Week in Fediverse – ep 98
Stefano Marinelli is:
Announcing FediMeteo – Weather in the Fediverse!
Very useful.
Manyfold announces:
Event Federation
“Event Bridge For ActivityPub” plugin released on WordPress.org
FORbetter explores:
Meta, Moderation & what it could mean for open social media
TechCrunch reports:
Of course he’s not going to defederate Threads. Which is what he should have done from the fucking beginning.
Dan Sinker is:
Again no one should even be on Threads in the first place (unless it’s a work requirement.
FOSS Academic reports:
Watching Threads, Bluesky and Decentralization, and ActivityPub Trust and Safety
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
The Fediverse Report has:
Last Week in Bluesky – 2025jan.a
The Prospect reports:
Bluesky Proves Stagnant Monopolies Are Strangling the Internet
Liberal Currents reports:
Why would anyone think a Shitter clone would?
TechCrunch reports:
Bluesky bump from X exodus is slowing down, data shows
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Defending Democracy.
- Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or RSS.
- Or follow Battalion on Bluesky
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
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