<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We’re back from France scouting locations for The Fulcrum’s worldwide HQ. \ud83d\ude09 Occitanie won out for the region (department). We\u2019re still working on the town. Nimes, Montpellier, and Toulouse are in the final.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Programmer\u2019s Fulcrum is the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy, Developing the OMN.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n You can sign up now<\/a> and for 2025 get an email with links to and featured articles for each week’s Symfony Station Communiqu\u00e9 and Battalion “Destroying Autocracy” post along with their featured articles. And you\u2019ll be set with TPF after the fusing.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We are posting on the Fediverse now at @thefulcrum @thefulcrum.dev and original website content will start in 2026.<\/em><\/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 The Authoritarian Stack writes:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Under the banner of “patriotic tech”, this new bloc is building the infrastructure of control\u2014clouds, AI, finance, drones, satellites\u2014an integrated system we call the Authoritarian Stack. It is faster, ideological, and fully privatized: a regime where corporate boards, not public law, set the rules.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our investigation shows how these firms now operate as state-like powers\u2014writing the rules, winning the tenders, and exporting their model to Europe, where it poses a direct challenge to democratic governance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n How Tech Billionaires Are Building a Post-Democratic America \u2014 And Why Europe Is Next<\/a><\/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 Open Future notes:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Europe doesn’t need new laws for Public AI\u2014it needs to activate the untapped legal basis it already has in the Article 3 TDM exception.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Open SSF says:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Open Infrastructure is Not Free: A Joint Statement on Sustainable Stewardship<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n NGI Commons reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n DC \u2013 EDIC: The EU\u2019s New Step Toward a Sovereign Digital Infrastructure<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n EuroNews reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here are the digital changes EU candidate countries are making to align with the bloc<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n French investigators open criminal probe into TikTok over impact on children\u2019s mental health<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n France suspends access to Shein as retailer opens first Paris store<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Heisse reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n International Criminal Court Kicks Out Microsoft<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Open Project reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Digital sovereignty in Government: German State Premiers and the International Criminal Court choose openDesk<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n That’s an awesome stack.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \/e\/OS announces:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \/e\/OS 3.2 is here!<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nextcloud announces:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nextcloud Hub 25 Autumn: Your digital workspace, ready in no time<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Open Web Advocacy reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n What Apple\u2019s UK Strategic Market Status Designation means for Browsers and Web Apps<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tuta reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Microsoft sued for misleading millions of customers into paying a 45% increase for AI add-ons.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Guardian reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Facebook\u2019s job ads algorithm is sexist, French equality watchdog rules<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports on:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Legal Case Against Ring\u2019s Face Recognition Feature<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 404 Media reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n How to Opt-Out of Airlines Selling Your Travel Data to the Government<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Free Software Foundation Europe reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Legal Corner: Apple\u2019s \u201cnotarisation\u201d \u2013 blocking software freedom of developers and users!<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechCrunch reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lina Khan to co-chair NYC mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani\u2019s transition team<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tech Policy reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mayor-Elect Mamdani Can Build a Tech Agenda for New York and a Model for the Country<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let’s fucking hope so.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Markup reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Why a new California law could change the way all Americans browse the internet<\/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 The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Age Verification, Estimation, Assurance, Oh My! A Guide to the Terminology<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Internet Exchange reports on:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Protecting Kids Without Breaking the Internet<\/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 Tech Policy reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Next Steps for Mitigating Harm in the UN Cybercrime Convention<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 404 Media reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Flock Logins Exposed In Malware Infections, Senator Asks FTC to Investigate the Company<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n DHS Gives Local Cops a Facial Recognition App To Find Immigrants<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n ProPublica reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n DHS Wants States to Hand Over Driver\u2019s License Data for Citizenship Checks<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechCrunch reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Italian political consultant says he was targeted with Paragon spyware<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n BleepingComputer reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Russian hackers abuse Hyper-V to hide malware in Linux VMs<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sandworm hackers use data wipers to disrupt Ukraine’s grain sector<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Register reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Russian spies pack custom malware into hidden VMs on Windows machines<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n EuroNews reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n AI chatbots are spewing Russian propaganda, study finds<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n DarkReading reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n APT ‘Bronze Butler’ Exploits Zero-Day to Root Japan Orgs<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kimsuky Debuts HTTPTroy Backdoor Against South Korea Users<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Iran’s Elusive “SmudgedSerpent’ APT Phishes Influential US Policy Wonks<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This Week in Security reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thousands of North Koreans have secretly infiltrated US and European companies as remote IT workers<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Byline Times reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n How the Not-So Independent Media Censors Criticism of Its Billionaire Owners<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tech Dirt reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 60 Minutes Edits Donald Trump Telling Them 60 Minutes Should Edit Donald Trump Talking About How 60 Minutes Paid Him For Editing Kamala Harris<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n NiemanLab reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Journalists are souring on social media platforms, an analysis of 11 years of Nieman Lab predictions suggests<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Application Gatekeeping: An Ever-Expanding Pathway to Internet Censorship<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 404 Media reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Future of Advertising Is AI Generated Ads That Are Directly Personalized to You<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n ArsTechnica reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bombshell report exposes how Meta relied on scam ad profits to fund AI<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n FTM reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n How Google fooled Brussels<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Intercept reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n YouTube Erased 700 Videos of Israeli Human Rights Violations<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Guardian reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Grok we don\u2019t trust: academics assess Elon Musk\u2019s AI-powered encyclopedia<\/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 BleepingComputer reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fake Solidity VSCode extension on Open VSX backdoors developers<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n DarkReading reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n ‘TruffleNet’ Attack Wields Stolen Credentials Against AWS<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Register reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n AN0M, the backdoored \u2018secure\u2019 messaging app for criminals, is still producing arrests after four years<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Krebs on Security reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cloudflare Scrubs Aisuru Botnet from Top Domains List<\/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 Connect Places has:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n On the coordination for better moderation systems<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fediverse Report \u2013 140<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fediverse Report \u2013 141<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechPolicy reports on:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Public Service Social Media as a Democratic Safeguard<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Be It Me Not You reports on:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Hidden Damage of Social Media & Why Decentralisation Matters<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Social Web Foundation shares:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n FOSDEM 2026 \u2013 Social Web Devroom \u2013 Call For Participation<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Privacy Nexus has:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Media Liberation Day: how can we help newcomers get started and have a good experience on Fedi?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bonfire has:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bonfire: building blocks for communities on the open social web<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fan-fucking-tastic!<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n PeerTube announces:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We’ve just released version 1.2.0 of the official #PeerTube app!<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mastodon announces:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mastodon 4.5: Featuring Quote posts, a solution to missing replies, and more<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Movim has:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The difference between XMPP and ActivityPub, explained through the Blog feature<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Korben has:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n SendMe – Pour partager des fichiers en P2P comme au bon vieux temps<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Connected Places has:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Decentralisation and blogging on atproto<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is why I say that although Bluesky will 100% become enshittified, ATProto has potential.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A New Social announces:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Launch: New Blocking Features on Bridgy Fed<\/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 <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p><\/ul>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Keep fighting!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Welcome to this week’s \u201cDestroying Autocracy\u201d. 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[69],"tags":[57,66,67,92,74,210,296,65,75,58,59,76,153,86,143,63,61,252,250,295],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3809"}],"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=3809"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3831,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3809\/revisions\/3831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/TPF-logo.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/figure>\n
\n\nFeatured Item(s)<\/h2>\n
\n\nThe response to Russia\u2019s War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery<\/h2>\n
\n\nNeutral<\/h2>\n
\n\nThe Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) 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
\n\nXMPP<\/h3>\n
\n\nP2P<\/h3>\n
\n\nSlightly Decentralized Social Media<\/h3>\n
\n\nCTAs (aka show us some free love)<\/h2>\n
\n