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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 Well, motherfuck. One thing I hate about being a misanthrope is always being right in my opinions of my fellow citizens. I am often disappointed but never surprised. That’s because I am 60 and have lived in the confederacy my entire life. Luckily I have had depression for 34 years and am used to suffering. The world is easier to take if you don’t care if you are alive tomorrow. Or have any children.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The bad guys won a big battle this week, but this is an eternal and worldwide war. There are more battles to be fought.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Anyway, there is a reason I started this site. If you have to go down, go down swinging. So, let’s get on with it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let’s celebrate the rare good news in the battle against autocracy and its allies.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechCrunch reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meta found to have exposed info on North Korean defectors to advertisers<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And are fined for it.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Register reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n New Jersey man admits shipping sanctions-busting tech to Russia<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Operation Synergia II sees Interpol swoop on global cyber crims<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Verge reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The FTC orders Sitejabber to stop faking product reviews<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Unfortunately, this and many other things will be reversed next year.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Apple reportedly facing first-ever EU fine over App Store rules<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Finally.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 404 Media reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Police Freak Out at iPhones Mysteriously Rebooting Themselves, Locking Cops Out<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ha. Good for Apple. ACAB.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Why the Work Still Matters<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n You should subscribe to 404 Media.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tech Policy reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n New Findings: Researchers Consider Elections, Hate, and Misinformation<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We Can\u2019t Wait For Media Literacy Education in the Age of AI<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bleeping Computer reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Canada orders TikTok to shut down over national risk concerns<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechDirt opines:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We Need To Fight For Free Speech More Than Ever<\/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 Naked Capitalism asks:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Can We Avoid a Franken-Future with AI?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Engadget reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n FBI warns voters about inauthentic videos relating to election security<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 404 Media reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Inside the Plan to Use AI to Purge Voter Rolls<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Voted in America? This Site Doxed You<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n DarkReading report:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Iranian APT Group Targets IP Cameras, Extends Attacks Beyond Israel<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tech Policy reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Weaponization of Things: Israel\u2019s Techno-Violence, A Litmus Test for Technologists<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n PBS reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Russia and Iran ramping up influence campaigns targeting U.S. voters, federal agencies say<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n USA Today reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n FBI, Georgia secretary of state blame polling place bomb threats on Russians<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Register reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Officials warn of Russia’s tech-for-troops deal with North Korea amid Ukraine conflict<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n China’s Volt Typhoon reportedly breached Singtel in ‘test-run’ for US telecom attacks<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ars Technica reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n US Space Force warns of \u201cmind-boggling\u201d build-up of Chinese capabilities<\/a><\/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 Content Concerns: Navigating Declining Newsfeed Quality in the 2024 Election<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dan Gillmor notes:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Extremism won, and journalism helped<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n On a related note, Status reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Paving Trump’s Path<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Joan Westenberg shares:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Why Right-Wing Media Thrives While The Left Gets Left Behind<\/a><\/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 Are Platforms Prepared for the Post-Election Period?<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Of course not.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wired reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n What an \u2018Airbnbopoly\u2019 Game Says About Silicon Valley\u2019s Standoff With Lina Khan<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Guardian reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Microsoft workers fired over Gaza vigil say company \u2018crumbled under pressure\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Verge reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Perplexity debuts an AI-powered election information hub<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ars Technical reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Facebook, Nvidia push SCOTUS to limit \u201cnuisance\u201d investor suits after scandals<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Don’t expect a good result from the Supreme C^nts here.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n MSNBC reports on:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n How women’s phones became a tool for abortion surveillance<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Blood in the Machine reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Silicon Valley got what it wanted<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s time for this week in Must C^ntitry.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Platformer reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n X\u2019s plan to interfere with the election<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechCrunch reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Elon Musk\u2019s false and misleading election claims have been viewed 2 billion times on X<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n X updates block feature, letting blocked users see your public posts<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Creepers and stalkers rejoice.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Atlantic reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n X Is a White-Supremacist Site<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wired reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Elon Musk’s America PAC Canvassers Faced Surveillance, Sickness, and Late Pay in Arizona<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Vox reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The growing danger of Elon Musk\u2019s misinformation machine<\/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 ChatGPT-4o can be used for autonomous voice-based scams<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Suspect behind Snowflake data-theft attacks arrested in Canada<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Interpol disrupts cybercrime activity on 22,000 IP addresses, arrests 41<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n DarkReading reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Google: Big Sleep AI Agent Puts SQLite Software Bug to Bed<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Power of Process in Creating a Successful Security Posture<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 404 Media reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Inside the Massive Crime Industry That is Hacking Billion Dollar Companies<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Endgadget reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Okta vulnerability allowed accounts with long usernames to log in without a password<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ars Technica reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hundreds of code libraries posted to NPM try to install malware on dev machines<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n JS getting the karma it deserves.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechCrunch reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n FBI says hackers are sending fraudulent police data requests to tech giants to steal people\u2019s private information<\/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 Fediverse Report has:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Last Week in Fediverse \u2013 ep 91<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Artist Marcia X shares:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fediblock, a Tiny History<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechCrunch reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n With this latest deal, Flipboard looks to build a news ecosystem beyond X<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Nexus of Privacy reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A faux “Eternal September” turns into flatness<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n While the Fediverse is slowly growing, Mastodon’s growth is flat. Why? Its daddy thinks it’s a shitter clone. When it isn’t.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n IFTAS has:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mastodon\u2019s Account Recommendations Explained<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ghost has an update:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Replies get an upgrade<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Darnell Day lists:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Six Reasons Why Political Pundits On Threads Should Flip For Flipboard<\/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 A conceptual model of ATProto and ActivityPub<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The New Stack looks at:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bluesky\u2019s AT Protocol: Pros and Cons for Developers<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TechCrunch reports:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bluesky gears up for Election Day as X goes pro-Trump<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cory Doctorow covers:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bluesky and enshittification<\/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>\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":[57,66,139,67,92,74,73,65,78,75,58,88,77,59,64,86,63,61,62],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963"}],"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=963"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":974,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963\/revisions\/974"}],"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=963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/battalion.mobileatom.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=963"}],"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 Federated Social Media<\/h3>\n
\n\nCTAs (aka show us some free love)<\/h2>\n
\n