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
Andy Piper of Mastodon fame writes:
We – all of us – can build a better internet, one that centers on users and communities, not corporations with hidden motives.
Building a Better Social Web
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery
The Christian Science Monitor reports:
They took up arms to fight Russia. They’ve taken up pens to express themselves.
The Kyiv Independent reports:
Assassinations of pro-war figures seek to demoralize Russia, punish war criminals
EuroNews reports:
Poland introduces mandatory firearms training for schoolchildren amid Russia threat
BleepingComputer reports:
US charges Russian-Israeli as suspected LockBit ransomware coder
The Guardian reports:
US judge finds Pegasus spyware maker liable over WhatsApp hack
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has:
EU Tech Regulation—Good Intentions, Unclear Consequences: 2024 in Review
To Address Online Harms, We Must Consider Privacy First
TechCrunch reports:
Why Apple sends spyware victims to this nonprofit security lab
The Register reports:
Biden’s antitrust crackdown on tech M&As may linger into Trump’s reign
TechPolicy shares its:
Tech Policy Press: The Year in Books
I just bought three of them for myself as a holiday present.
Mediapart announces:
Against misinformation, Mediapart leaves X
Ars Technica reports:
FTC launches probe of Microsoft over bundling
News Channel 5 reports:
Phil Williams: In reporting on hate and extremism, ‘while the attacks are personal, so is the cause’
Local Journo heroes are rare and should be celebrated.
Neutral
Reality’s Last Stand has:
Hashtags and Hit Lists: Social Media’s Role in Justifying Violence
The Evil Empire Strikes Back
TechDirt has:
Death Of A Forum: How The UK’s Online Safety Act Is Killing Communities
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
EFF & 140 Other Organizations Call for an End to AI Use in Immigration Decisions
Bloomberg reports:
MAGA’s Orban-esque Plan to Control What Universities Teach
TechCrunch reports:
Palantir and Anduril reportedly building a tech consortium to bid on defense contracts
Walled Culture reports on:
Why Italy’s Piracy Shield risks moving from tiresome digital farce to serious national tragedy
Pariah States
Silicon Angle reports:
Russia’s finance minister reveals bitcoin is being used to conduct foreign trade
The Insider reports:
Russian disinfo network “Matryoshka” is migrating to Bluesky as exodus from X continues
BleepingComputer reports:
FBI links North Korean hackers to $308 million crypto heist
New ‘OtterCookie’ malware used to backdoor devs in fake job offers
White House links ninth telecom breach to Chinese hackers
Big Media
The Electronic Frontier Foundation shares:
EFF in the Press: 2024 in Review
The Prospect reports:
Democrats Lost the Propaganda War
Big Tech
AP reports:
Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died
Suicide huh.
The MIT Technology Review report on:
TechPolicy reports:
Old Meets New in Online Influence
404 Media reports:
Nothing Is Sacred: AI Generated Slop Has Come for Christmas Music
Where’s Your Ed At says:
Terror
Newsweek reports:
Magdeburg Attack Suspect Said Elon Musk, Alex Jones ‘Telling Truth’: Report
Cybersecurity/Privacy
BleepingComputer reports:
Apache fixes remote code execution bypass in Tomcat web server
The Register reports:
‘That’s not a bug, it’s a feature’ takes on a darker tone when malware’s involved
Fediverse
The Fediverse Report has:
Last Week in Fediverse – ep 97
The Verge reports:
Flipboard’s Surf app is a big new idea about the future of social
Awesome news. This will be fantastic for curation.
We Distribute has more:
Surf is a “Social Browser” App From Flipboard
Stefan Bohacek asks:
How much does the fediverse cost?
Sage Journals publishes:
MuffinLabs share a:
Timothy Chambers has:
Predictions for the Open Social Web 2025
Mastodon shares its:
Annual Report 2023 and last update of 2024
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
The Fediverse Report has:
Last Week in the ATmosphere – 2412.c
Tedium reports:
An extortion scheme involving famous writers and entrepreneurs lit up Bluesky
TechCrunch reports:
Bluesky adds mentions tab in the notifications screen and username squatting protection
The Verge reports:
Bluesky adds Trending topics to its arsenal
Nope.
The Walrus reports:
Bluesky Promised Writers Freedom. Now It’s Feeling a Lot Like Work
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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