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.
As noted last week, I am willing to spend 10 of my retirement hours weekly on The Programmer’s Fulcrum. It’s the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy.
You can sign up now and for 2025 get an email with links to and featured articles for each week’s Symfony Station Communiqué and Battalion “Destroying Autocracy” post. And you’ll be set with TPF after the fusing.
Featured Item
Hamish Campbell writes:
The geek answer (bad faith or blindness): “If only everyone learned to code, then society would be fairer.”
The activist answer: Code is part of the landscape, but culture, governance, and lived practice matter more. We don’t escape domination by teaching more people to type commands, we escape by changing what we do together with the tools.
Why “teach everyone to code” has become a dead-end slogan – it’s been tried, it’s been funded, and yet it hasn’t shifted power one bit. If anything, it’s reinforced the tech priesthood instead of breaking it.
Why “teach everyone to code” has become a dead-end slogan
Remember, as I mentioned in the TechnoAnarchist Manifesto, tech is now the major religion on earth.
As far as what programmers should do, he has:
Activist tech has been stuck in a defensive crouch
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russia’s War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
NextCloud reports:
Schleswig-Holstein’s “Deutschland-Stack” vision for a digitally independent Germany
EuroNews reports:
Cash is king: Why does the eurozone need a digital euro?
The San Francisco Public Press reports:
California Pushes AI Regulation as Experts Reveal Looming Dangers
The Guardian reports:
Microsoft workers occupy HQ in protest against company’s ties to Israeli military
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Victory! Ninth Circuit Limits Intrusive DMCA Subpoenas
Victory! Pen-Link’s Police Tools Are Not Secret
Fourth Amendment Victory: Michigan Supreme Court Reins in Digital Device Fishing Expeditions
Internet Exchange reports:
Shaping a Profession, Building a Community
TechPolicy reports:
The TAKE IT DOWN Act Is US Law. Platforms Must Do More Than The Bare Minimum
BleepingComputer reports:
U.S. seizes $2.8 million in crypto from Zeppelin ransomware operator
The Conversation reports:
Poytner reports:
Poynter’s MediaWise launches new initiative to combat extremism in online gaming spaces
The Register reports:
Someone’s poking the bear with infostealers targeting Russian crypto developers
US cops wrap up RapperBot, one of world’s biggest DDoS-for-hire rackets
TechCrunch reports:
Hackers who exposed North Korean government hacker explain why they did it
Ecosia has offered to take ‘stewardship’ of Chrome. And it’s not a bad idea.
Great idea, hence it will go nowhere.
Fortune reports:
MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing
🙂
EuroNews reports:
Austrian newspaper’s pay or consent model violates EU privacy rules: court
The Association of Progressive Communications reports:
Brazil explores ways to hold platforms accountable in court and beyond
Bom!
Neutral
TechPolicy reports:
We Need to Control Personal AI Data So Personal AI Cannot Control Us
The Next Web reports:
Europe can lead the world in legal AI — by out-regulating everyone else
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
TechPolicy reports:
How US Officials Are Pressuring Europe Over Its Platform Regulations
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
President Trump’s War on “Woke AI” Is a Civil Liberties Nightmare
The Intercept reports:
ICE hunts down immigrants by spying on their wire transfers
The Register reports:
End well, this won’t: UK commissioner suggests govt stops kids from using VPNs
United Kuntdumb tech logic: if something is shite, let’s fix it by making it worse.
TechCrunch reports:
Judge says FTC investigation into Media Matters ‘should alarm all Americans’
404 Media reports:
The Government Just Made it Harder for The Public to Comment on Regulations
Global Voices reports:
The politics and people behind Balochistan, Pakistan’s internet shutdowns
Hide Me reports:
“Chat Control”: The EU is about to read every message you send
Pariah States
Politico reports:
Russia is quietly churning out fake content posing as US news
And plenty of American stooges are spreading the shit.
Radio Free Europe reports:
Report: Russian Sabotage Operations In Europe Have Quadrupled Since 2023
DarkReading reports:
Europe’s Ransomware Surge Is a Warning Shot for US Defenders
CrowdStrike reports:
MURKY PANDA: A Trusted-Relationship Threat in the Cloud
BleepingComputer reports:
XenoRAT malware campaign hits multiple embassies in South Korea
Big Media
The Guardian reports:
How German media outlets helped pave the way for Israel’s murder of journalists in Gaza
I think fascism is just in the water in Germany. Like racism in America.
EuroNews reports:
Finland’s war on fake news starts in schools. AI could make that a lot harder.
Big Tech
The Atlantic reports:
Wok reports:
Google is killing the open web
Not a Tech Bro reports:
The Register reports:
Google yet to take down ‘screenshot-grabbing’ Chrome VPN extension
The Markup reports:
We caught companies making it harder to delete your personal data online
Data brokers face new pressure for hiding opt-out pages from Google
The Guardian reports:
Meta faces backlash over AI policy that lets bots have ‘sensual’ conversations with children
404 Media reports:
Grok Exposes Underlying Prompts for Its AI Personas
TikTok Shop Sells Viral GPS Trackers Marketed to Stalkers
Jimmy Wales Says Wikipedia Could Use AI. Editors Call It the ‘Antithesis of Wikipedia’
Cybersecurity/Privacy
The Register reports:
Every question you ask, every comment you make, I’ll be recording you
Nice song reference. 😉
BleepingComputer reports:
Okta open-sources catalog of Auth0 rules for threat detection
Mozilla announces:
CRLite: Fast, private, and comprehensive certificate revocation checking in Firefox
Factorial reports:
DDoS Attacks on NGOs: When Digital Infrastructure Becomes a Vulnerability
Heisse reports:
Copyright: Springer vs Adblock Plus enters another round
Socket reports:
Researcher Exposes Zero-Day Clickjacking Vulnerabilities in Major Password Managers
Fediverse
Applied Social Media Lab reports:
We Distribute reports:
CrowdBucks is a new payment system for the Fediverse
It needs some.
DeadSuperHero has:
Hamish Campbell explains:
Why Most Fediverse Codebases Are Languishing
The London School of Economics asks:
Are newsletters the new academic social media?
Niche, but interesting.
David Roetzel is:
Taking a Fresh Look at the Fediverse
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
Connected Places has:
Kuba Suder shares an:
TechCrunch reports:
Bluesky blocks service in Mississippi over age assurance 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. Or even our future home in 2026, if you want a headstart.
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
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