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
Elena Rossini writes:
We are in the throes of a digital coup. And Big Tech’s deep pockets and large ad spending have been building – for 2 decades now – the illusion that in order to be seen and heard online, to make an impact through writing, one needs to use their centralized platforms. Because “they are the only way.”
I completely disagree. I remain all in when it comes to the Fediverse and FOSS publishing solutions. With this post, I hope I can show you that another way is possible.
This is what resistance to the digital coup looks like
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery
The Register reports:
EU gives staff ‘burner phones, laptops’ for US visits
Ireland opens probe into Musk’s X over Grok’s AI data slurp
Palo Alto Online reports:
Silicon Valley crosswalk buttons apparently hacked to imitate Musk, Zuckerberg voices
The Japan Times:
In a first, Japan issues cease-and-desist order against Google
The Guardian reports:
Google sued for £5bn in UK over allegations of shutting out rivals
TechCrunch reports:
Judge rules Google illegally monopolized adtech, opening door to potential breakup
The Nation shares:
I’ve Worked at Google for Decades. I’m Sickened by What It’s Doing.
The Next Web reports:
Trump tariffs reignite Europe’s push for cloud sovereignty
Dark Reading reports:
Threat Intel Firm Offers Crypto in Exchange for Dark Web Accounts
Ars Technica reports:
Harvard says no chance it will comply with changes feds demand
Speaking of, Harvard shares:
Understanding DOGE and Your Data
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Privacy on the Map: How States Are Fighting Location Surveillance
Tech Policy reports on:
The Need for and Pathways to AI Regulatory and Technical Interoperability
Cory Doctorow has:
Mark Zuckerberg personally lost the Facebook antitrust case
The Evil Empire Strikes Back
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Florida’s New Social Media Bill Says the Quiet Part Out Loud and Demands an Encryption Backdoor
Florida has long been America’s laboratory for fascism.
MIT Technology Review reports:
DOGE’s tech takeover threatens the safety and stability of our critical data
NPR reports:
A whistleblower’s disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data
404 Media reports:
The AI Tools CBP Is Using to Scan Social Media
ICE Just Paid Palantir Tens of Millions for ‘Complete Target Analysis of Known Populations’
This ‘College Protester’ Isn’t Real. It’s an AI-Powered Undercover Bot for Cops
Pariah States
Bleeping Computer reports:
Russian hackers attack Western military mission using malicious drive
Midnight Blizzard deploys new GrapeLoader malware in embassy phishing
The Register reports:
Hacktivism resurges – but don’t be fooled, it’s often state-backed goons in masks
Chinese snoops use stealth RAT to backdoor US orgs – still active last week
Tech Policy reports:
China’s Anti-Sanctions Rules Raise Human Rights Risks for Global Tech Firms
DarkReading reports:
Chinese APT Mustang Panda Debuts 4 New Attack Tools
TechCrunch reports:
Big Media
Poynter reports:
Audiences are still skeptical about generative AI in the news
Big Tech
Tech Policy reports:
How Information Asymmetry Inhibits Efforts for Big Tech Accountability
Cory Doctorow has:
Tesla accused of hacking odometers to weasel out of warranty repairs
If you own a swasticar, you almost deserve this.
Ars Technica reports:
Zuckerberg’s 2012 email dubbed “smoking gun” at Meta monopoly trial
BleepingComputer reports:
Meta to resume AI training on content shared by Europeans
TechCrunch reports:
Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk would like to ‘delete all IP law’
The Guardian reports:
‘Silicon Six’ accused of avoiding almost $278bn in US corporation taxes over 10 years
Terror
The Guardian reports:
Fears over extremism in US military as soldier revealed as neo-Nazi TikTok follower
Cybersecurity/Privacy
Reuters reports:
Cybersecurity industry falls silent as Trump turns ire on SentinelOne
The Register reports:
CVE program gets last-minute funding from CISA – and maybe a new home
BleepingComputer reports:
Chrome 136 fixes 20-year browser history privacy riskws/security/chrome-136-fixes-20-year-browser-history-privacy-risk/)
Don’t use Chrome is the easiest fix. Librewolf peeps.
Tech Republic reports:
Windows 11 Forces Microsoft Account Sign In & Removes Bypass Trick Option
This is further validation that my next computer will come with linux preinstalled.
The Record reports:
US to sign Pall Mall pact aimed at countering spyware abuses
Fediverse
The Fediverse Report has:
The Nexus of Privacy reports:
On FediForum (and not just FediForum)
Framablog shares its:
Hong Minhee says:
Ditch the DIY Drama: Why To Use Fedify Instead of Building ActivityPub from Scratch?
Netz Politik has:
Hochschulen aller Länder ins Fediverse!
DeadSuperHero explores:
Integrating a News Publication Into the Fediverse
I’ve done the same with this website and the Symfony Station newsletter, and it’s definitely hacky.
Ghost is:
Rob Shearer has:
This is a bit harsh, but does have some fair points.
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
Ben Werdmuller shares:
The Fediverse Report has:
Bluesky, censorship and country-based moderation
We deleted our Bluesky account. It just doesn’t do it for us. It’s a half-shit Twitter. And Twitter was always shit.
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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