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<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
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FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cory Doctorow writes:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Technologists and labor organizers need one another. Even the most precarious and abused workers can team up with hackers to disenshittify their robo-bosses.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reverse engineers bust sleazy gig work platform<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is the kind of work we need to be doing.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Speaking of Cory, The Guardian reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018What many of us feel\u2019: why \u2018enshittification\u2019 is Macquarie Dictionary\u2019s word of the year<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Awesome.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Miami Herald reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ukraine Found Way to Divert Russian Drones into Neighbor\u2019s Airspace-Report<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Super Awesome!<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechCrunch reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n UK seeks collaboration for security research lab to counter Russia and \u2018new AI arms race\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n FTC reportedly opens antitrust investigation into Microsoft<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Apple ordered to open up in-app purchases in Brazil<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Times reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Russian spying ring \u2018planned honeytrap to bait journalists\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Register reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Google blocked 1,000-plus pro-China fake news websites from its search results<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Telco engineer who spied on US employer for Beijing gets four years in the clink<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Verge reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Google\u2019s empire is under siege<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n FTC changes its telemarketing rules to cover growing \u2018tech support scam\u2019 calls<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n BleepingComputer reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bangkok busts SMS Blaster sending 1 million scam texts from a van<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meta removes over 2 million accounts pushing pig butchering scams<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Verge reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n OpenAI sued by Canada\u2019s biggest media outlets<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Waterloo Region Register reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Accused Kitchener hacker unmasked after threatening woman online<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wired reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Anyone Can Buy Data Tracking US Soldiers and Spies to Nuclear Vaults and Brothels in Germany<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Guardian reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n How the far right is weaponising AI-generated content in Europe<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Register reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The workplace has become a surveillance state<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reuters reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Exxon lobbyist investigated over hack-and-leak of environmentalist emails, sources say<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechCrunch reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Study of ChatGPT citations makes dismal reading for publishers<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n DarkReading reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n BlackBasta Ransomware Brand Picks Up Where Conti Left Off<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Russian Script Kiddie Assembles Massive DDoS Botnet<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n ‘Operation Undercut’ Adds to Russia Malign Influence Campaigns<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n BleepingComputer reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Firefox and Windows zero-days exploited by Russian RomCom hackers<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 404 Media reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Russian Disinformation Campaign Spreads Lies About Ukraine’s \u2018Stalker 2\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Register reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n China has utterly pwned ‘thousands and thousands’ of devices at US telcos<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechCrunch reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n North Korean hackers have stolen billions in crypto by posing as VCs, recruiters and IT workers<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n MSN reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Israel sanctions Haaretz due to articles that \u2018hurt\u2019 Israeli state<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Haaretz reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Netanyahu’s Israel, Freedom of Expression Means Freedom to Praise the Leader<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n MSNBC reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The blurred line between X and the Trump administration<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 404 Media reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tether Has Become a Massive Money Laundering Tool for Mexican Drug Traffickers, Feds Say<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n X’s Objection to the Onion Buying InfoWars Is a Reminder You Do Not Own Your Social Media Accounts<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tech Policy reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meta\u2019s Privacy Policies: Designed Badly, by Design?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ars Technica reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n OpenAI blamed NYT for tech problem erasing evidence of copyright abuse<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n DOJ wraps up ad tech trial: Google is \u201cthree times\u201d a monopolist<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechCrunch reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Google to test plain \u2018blue link\u2019 results for hotel searches in EU markets in latest DMA twist<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Guardian reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When will Democrats finally realize that big tech is not an ally?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I’ve been beating this dead horse for years. Hence, this entire fucking section of DD each week.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Register reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n FTC urges smart device makers to disclose software update lifecycles<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Euronews reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TikTok accused of failing to tackle election disinformation in Ireland<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mashable reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bluesky now displays replies by ‘hotness’<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Enshittification step 1 – VC money. Step 2 – this.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n DarkReading reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Closing the Cybersecurity Career Diversity Gap<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Register reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n US senators propose law to require bare minimum security standards<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n BleepingComputer reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n New Rockstar 2FA phishing service targets Microsoft 365 accounts<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Benjamin Sandofsky opines on:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The End of The Twitter Era<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Because shitter is literally a Truth Social clone now.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Fediverse Report has:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Last Week in Fediverse \u2013 ep 94<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dhole Moments looks at:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Key Transparency and the Right to be Forgotten<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n W3C Community Group shares:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n ActivityPub Discovery<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tyler Fisher is:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Introducing Sill<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Quote: Sill streamlines your Bluesky and Mastodon feeds to give you a clear picture of what\u2019s happening.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ghost has:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Inboxes, feeds, articles, notes<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I really like where Ghost is headed.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mashable reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Open-source TikTok alternative Loops coming to the Fediverse<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Short videos aren’t my thing, but it’s from the Pixelfed team which is my favorite federated app.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n NGI Commons announce:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n NGI projects end use of X<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Verge reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Threads is testing the option to choose your own default feed<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechCrunch reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meta\u2019s Threads is developing its own take on Bluesky\u2019s \u2018Starter Packs\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Financial Times reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meta loses ground to Bluesky as users abandon Elon Musk\u2019s X<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Elena Rossini asks:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n If Big Tech social platforms are junk food and the Fediverse is a healthy home-cooked meal, then what is Bluesky?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Fediverse Report has:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Last Week in the ATmosphere \u2013 The Links -2411.d<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Last Week in the ATmosphere \u2013 The News \u2013 2411.d<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Muni Blog looks at:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Leaf, ATProto and ActivityPub<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tech Policy asks:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Where Does Power Consolidate on Bluesky?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n White Wind has a:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reply on Bluesky and Decentralization<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechCrunch reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sill\u2019s new app rounds up the best links from your Bluesky and Mastodon networks<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Michael Taggart has:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Bluesky Questions, Part 1<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Bluesky Questions, Part 2<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Verge reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bluesky is breaking the rules in the EU<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bloomberg reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bluesky Says It Will Comply With EU Rules After Being Called Out<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 404 Media reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Someone Made a Dataset of One Million Bluesky Posts for ‘Machine Learning Research’<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Because that’s the way Bluesky designed it.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p><\/ul>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Welcome to this week’s \u201cDefending Democracy\u201d. 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[69],"tags":[57,66,148,67,92,74,73,65,75,58,77,141,115,142,59,147,64,86,143,63,61,62],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1028"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1044,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions\/1044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\nFeatured Item<\/h2>\n
\n\nThe response to Russia\u2019s War Crimes and other douchebaggery<\/h2>\n
\n\nThe Evil Empire Strikes Back<\/h2>\n
Pariah States<\/h3>\n
Big Media<\/h3>\n
Big Tech<\/h3>\n
\n\nCybersecurity\/Privacy<\/h2>\n
\n\nFediverse<\/h2>\n
Other Slightly Federated Social Media<\/h3>\n
\n\nCTAs (aka show us some free love)<\/h2>\n
\n