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.
The Programmer’s Fulcrum is the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy, Developing the OMN.
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 along with their featured articles. And you’ll be set with TPF after the fusing.
Featured Item
Tuta shares:
Finally some good news: French MPs want to make it illegal to break encryption and limit surveillance.
Is France finally standing up for encryption and privacy?
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russia’s War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
The Guardian reports:
Too tricky to cancel: Amazon faces US trial over alleged Prime subscription deceptions
Amazon to pay $2.5bn to settle FTC lawsuit over Prime ‘subscription traps’
Ars Technica reports:
How to fight censorship, one Disney+ cancellation at a time
I canceled Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+. And they’re gonna stay canceled. My drinking budget just went up $90 a month. Cheers!
The Verge reports:
Microsoft forced to make Windows 10 extended security updates truly free in Europe
404 Media reports:
We’re Suing ICE for its $2 Million Spyware Contract
The Kyiv Independent reports:
Ukraine hacks Crimea proxy head, uncovers child abduction files, intelligence source says
FSFE reports:
The Digital Markets Act turns 1: one year of pushing for Device Neutrality
Neutral
The Next Web reports:
The EU’s €2T budget overlooks a key tech pillar: Open source
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
Tech Policy reports:
The Internet Coup Is Here. And the World Is Still Asleep
The Guardian reports:
Documents offer rare insight on Ice’s close relationship with Palantir
Reuters reports:
Exclusive: US could hit entire International Criminal Court with sanctions soon
The EFF reports:
That Drone in the Sky Could Be Tracking Your Car
404 Media reports:
How Surveillance Firms Use ‘Democracy’ As a Cover for Serving ICE and Trump
Ars Technica reports:
Senate staff probes DOGE, finds locked doors and windows covered with trash bags
Pariah States
DarkReading reports:
Chinese APT Leans on Researcher PoCs to Spy on Other Countries
Iran-Linked Hackers Target Europe With New Malware
EuroNews reports:
Inside Russia’s AI-driven disinformation machine shaping Moldova’s election
The Register reports:
SIM city: Feds say 100,000-card farms could have killed cell towers in NYC
Google warns China-linked spies lurking in ‘numerous’ enterprises since March
North Korea’s Lazarus Group shares its malware with IT work scammers
The Guardian reports:
Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians
A small part of it.
Big Media
Fuck Disney, fuck ABC, fuck Sinclair, fuck the FCC, and fuck the orange hate baboon.
Ben Werdmuller has:
Building distributed media for a democratic breakdown
Big Tech
TechCrunch reports:
Meta launches super PAC to fight AI regulation as state policies mount
The Guardian reports:
Parents outraged as Meta uses photos of schoolgirls in ads targeting man
Meta exposé author faces bankruptcy after ban on criticising company
France24 reports:
EU rejects Apple demand to scrap landmark tech rules
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Going Viral vs. Going Dark: Why Extremism Trends and Abortion Content Gets Censored
If we stop using products from the c^nts at Meta, we can solve all these problems.
Computer World reports:
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
Hidde shares:
The politics of AI: we’ll need more sustainability, community and democracy
404 Media reports:
AI ‘Workslop’ Is Killing Productivity and Making Workers Miserable
Cybersecurity/Privacy
Camille Bouvat announces:
Saracroche, le bloqueur d’appels indésirables pour iPhone et Android
I was happy to find this spam blocker and put it to use on my Fairphone.
Between Two Firewalls reports:
Identity Is Still the Perimeter
Wired reports:
How Signal’s Meredith Whittaker Remembers SignalGate: ‘No Fucking Way’
BleepingComputer reports:
Police seizes $439 million stolen by cybercrime rings worldwide
Fediverse
Connected Places has:
Elena Rossini shares:
The Future Is Federated: My Fediverse Starter Guide
Open Journals has some new research:
Kalvin has:
Mastodon and Algorithms: Transparent, Simple, and User-Controlled
PeerTube announces:
PeerTube mobile app v1.1.0 is out!
PieFed announces:
Hackers Pub shows us:
How to Build a Simple ActivityPub Reminder Bot in Python.
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
TechCrunch reports:
Bluesky says it’s getting more aggressive about moderation and enforcement
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 head start.
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
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