Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.
It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting democracy. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.
DA comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.
FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.
Featured Item
404 Media writes:
A new paper from researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University finds that as humans increasingly rely on generative AI in their work, they use less critical thinking, which can “result in the deterioration of cognitive faculties that ought to be preserved.”
“A key irony of automation is that by mechanizing routine tasks and leaving exception-handling to the human user, you deprive the user of the routine opportunities to practice their judgement and strengthen their cognitive musculature, leaving them atrophied and unprepared when the exceptions do arise,” the researchers wrote.
Microsoft Study Finds AI Makes Human Cognition “Atrophied and Unprepared”
Surprise, surprise.
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery
The Next Web reports:
Ethical AI and climate tech are turning the Netherlands into a European innovation leader
The Electronic Frontier Foundation looks at:
Closing the Gap in Encryption on Mobile
Fast Company reports:
This scrappy search upstart is getting thousands of people to give up Google
BleepingComputer reports:
US sanctions LockBit ransomware’s bulletproof hosting provider
404 Media reports:
Wikipedia Prepares for ‘Increase in Threats’ to US Editors From Musk and His Allies
The Register reports:
A win at last: Big blow to AI world in training data copyright scrap
Great.
Codeberg declares:
We stay strong against hate and hatred
DarkReading reports:
Japan Goes on Offense With New ‘Active Cyber Defense’ Bill
Neutral
Tech Policy has:
Message to US States: Don’t Forget the Fundamentals of Fighting Online Hate and Antisemitism
An Advocate’s Guide to Automated Content Moderation
Navigating Europe’s AI Code of Practice Before the Clock Runs Out
The Register reports:
EU plans to ‘mobilize’ €200B to invest in AI to catch up with US and China
The Evil Empire Strikes Back
The Atlantic reports:
The Government’s Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified
Popular Information reports:
G Zero Media reports:
Elon Musk’s government takeover is powered by AI
Business Insider reports:
TechCrunch reports:
Spyware maker caught distributing malicious Android apps for years
The Guardian reports:
US immigration is gaming Google to create a mirage of mass deportations
The Intercept reports:
ICE wants to know if you’re posting mean things about it online
Pariah States
BleepingComputer reports:
Russian military hackers deploy malicious Windows activators in Ukraine
BadPilot network hacking campaign fuels Russian SandWorm attacks
DPRK hackers dupe targets into typing PowerShell commands as admin
Chinese espionage tools deployed in RA World ransomware attack
Domain Tools reports:
Chinese Malware Delivery Domains Part II: Data Collection
The Guardian reports:
Revelations of Israeli spyware abuse raise fears over possible use by Trump
The Register reports:
Crimelords and spies for rogue states are working together, says Google
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports:
2024 is deadliest year for journalists in CPJ history; almost 70% killed by Israel
Ars Technica reports:
What is device code phishing, and why are Russian spies so successful at it?
Big Media
The Wikipedian reports:
The Right’s War on Wikipedia is Just a Repackaging of its War on Journalism
Big Tech
The Guardian reports:
We didn’t click ‘consent’ on any gambling website. So how did Facebook know where we’d been?
How Meta abandoned Silicon Valley’s most ambitious diversity goals
404 Media reports:
Senator Pushes Zuckerberg on “Perverse Abuse” of Nudify Ads After 404 Media Report
This Adtech Company is Powering Surveillance of U.S. Military Personnel
PC Gamer reports:
The Verge reports:
Google Calendar removed events like Pride and BHM because its holiday list wasn’t ‘sustainable’
There is nothing worse than cowardice.
OpenAI is rethinking how AI models handle controversial topics
Terror
The Guardian reports:
Bomb-plot trial of neo-Nazi leader pulls back veil on US extremist networks
Cybersecurity/Privacy
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
The UK’s Demands for Apple to Break Encryption Is an Emergency for Us All
The Washington Post reports:
Your employer might be spying on you. Here’s how workers can check.
BleepingComputer reports:
Apple fixes zero-day exploited in ‘extremely sophisticated’ attacks
CNN reports:
How to keep your private conversations private
The Register reports:
Probe finds US Coast Guard has left maritime cybersecurity adrift
Feds want devs to stop coding ‘unforgivable’ buffer overflow vulnerabilities
Fediverse
The Fediverse Report has:
Wreckage shares:
Read this if you love the Fediverse.
SMA looks at:
A Brief History of Alternative Social Media Scholarship
The New Stack reports:
Pixelfed Crowdfunds More Open Source Social Alternatives for the Fediverse
The Internet Review reports on:
Improved Moderation Features Coming Later This Month to Pixelfed
TechCrunch reports:
These apps are building Instagram alternatives on open protocols
Tumblr to join the Fediverse after WordPress migration completes
Mastodon has:
Bringing Quote Posts to Mastodon
The Counterforce shares:
The Counterforce Guide to Mastodon and The Fediverse (for punks!)
But Nazi Punks, Fuck Off!
Ghost has:
If you didn’t like it then you should have just unfollowed it
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
The Fediverse Report has:
Last Week in the ATmosphere – 2025feb.b
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.
- Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
- Or follow Battalion on Bluesky.
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
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