#newsmast — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #newsmast, aggregated by home.social.
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Destroying Autocracy – October 16, 2025
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.
FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.
We’re off to France to scout locations for The Fulcrum’s worldwide HQ. 😉 So, there will not be a post for the next two weeks.
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.
We are posting on the Fediverse now at @thefulcrum @thefulcrum.dev and original website content will start in 2026.
Featured Item(s)
EuroNews writes:
Artificial intelligence is a matter of design – not destiny.
That’s the message from 10 philanthropic foundations aiming to loosen the grip that the technology’s moneyed developers, fueled by an investing frenzy, hold over its evolution.
Launched Tuesday under the name Humanity AI, the coalition is committing $500 million (€427 million) across the next five years to place human interests at the forefront of the technology’s rapid integration into daily life.
“The future belongs to those who actively create it, and that shan’t be a few leaders in Silicon Valley. It’s all of us,” Mozilla Foundation Executive Director Nabiha Syed said in an emailed statement.
Philanthropists to invest €427 million to curbs tech giants’ influence on new AI
Let’s hope they are successful.
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russia’s War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
Ars Technica reports:
Why Signal’s post-quantum makeover is an amazing engineering achievement
Feds seize $15 billion from alleged forced labor scam built on “human suffering”
Inside the web infrastructure revolt over Google’s AI Overviews
EuroNews reports:
Netherlands invokes rare emergency law to take charge of Chinese chipmaker
Free Software Foundation Europe reports:
Refund of pre-installed Windows: Lenovo must pay 20,000 euros in damages
DMA litigation against Apple: a quick recap
The Register reports:
Librephone battles the proprietary binary blob
Fantastic.
Lemonde Informatiqué reports:
Microsoft 365 Education traque illégalement les données des élèves
The Guardian reports:
Italian news publishers demand investigation into Google’s AI Overviews
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Victory! California Requires Transparency for AI Police Reports
Labor Unions, EFF Sue Trump Administration to Stop Ideological Surveillance of Free Speech Online
Signal reports:
Signal Desktop introduces Notification profiles
Tor Browser has an update:
Tor Browser will remove all of the Firefox AI features that Mozilla has been recently adding
Neutral
Ben Werdmueller advises:
News Orgs: Build what makes you special. Buy the rest.
NiemanLab shares:
“How can we help?” The Engaged Journalism Exchange aims to create belonging through media
Tech Policy reports:
To Have Democracy, We Must Contest Data
Government Technology reports:
CDT: Growing AI Use in Schools Brings Benefits and New Risks
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
Poynter reports:
A united media stands up against the Pentagon’s press restrictions
404 Media reports:
ICE, Secret Service, Navy All Had Access to Flock’s Nationwide Network of Cameras
Pariah States
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
EFF and Five Human Rights Organizations Urge Action Around Microsoft’s Role in Israel’s War on Gaza
TechCrunch reports:
Spyware maker NSO confirms acquisition by U.S. investor
404 Media reports:
Senators Warn Saudi Arabia’s Acquisition of EA Will Be Used for ‘Foreign Influence’
BleepingComputer reports:
North Korean hackers use EtherHiding to hide malware on the blockchain
DarkReading reports:
China Hackers Test AI-Optimized Attack Chains in Taiwan
The Register reports:
Chinese cyberspies snoop on Russian IT biz in rare east-on-east attack
Big Tech
Ars Technica reports:
Trump admin pressured Facebook into removing ICE-tracking group
Infrequently Noted reports:
The App Store Was Always Authoritarian
MDR reports:
Windows-Umstellung kostet Sachsen-Anhalt mehr als vier Millionen Euro
404 Media reports:
The End of Windows 10 Support Is an E-Waste Disaster in the Making
Scott Larson reports:
Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft’s move towards a surveillance state
BertHub has:
The Torment Nexus has:
Should we be afraid of AI? Maybe a little
Personally I think of AI as a hammer and humans as nails. 95% of the time, it’s hammering us into a pile of shit. 5% of the time it can be turned around to pull us out.
Speaking of, The Verge reports:
OpenAI allegedly sent police to an AI regulation advocate’s door
Tuta shares:
How GoDaddy hollowed out Host Europe & DomainFactory (plus better European web hosting providers)
Terror
Politico reports:
‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat
Cybersecurity/Privacy
BleepingComputer reports:
Spain dismantles “GXC Team” cybercrime syndicate, arrests leader
Wired reports:
Satellites Are Leaking the World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data
The Register reports:
British govt agents demand action after UK mega-cyberattacks surge 50%
Internet Exchange shares:
A Shield in Uncertain Times: The Role of Encryption
Fediverse
Connected Places has:
Ben Werdmueller tells us:
Why the open social web matters now
For Better reflects on:
Defining a new kind of social app
Media CCC shares:
Decentralising Freedom: Open Source for Sovereignty
Fedify announces:
Fedify 1.9.0: Security enhancements, improved DX, and expanded framework support
Loops has:
We Distribute has:
Wafrn is for People Who Miss Tumblr’s Chaotic Energy
Mastodon announces:
The first beta release of Mastodon 4.5.0 is ready for testing!
TechCrunch reports:
Threads is getting group chats as messaging rolls out to the EU
Forgejo announces:
Slightly Decentralized Social Media
ATProtocol Dev is:
Announcing ATmosphereConf: Vancouver, March 2026
Remember Bluesky is half-ass but ATProto has potential.
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#ActivityPub #AI #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Democracy #Fascism #Fedify #Fediverse #GoDaddy #Loops #Mastodon #Newsmast #Signal #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism #Threads #WARFN
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Destroying Autocracy – October 16, 2025
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.
FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.
We’re off to France to scout locations for The Fulcrum’s worldwide HQ. 😉 So, there will not be a post for the next two weeks.
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.
We are posting on the Fediverse now at @thefulcrum @thefulcrum.dev and original website content will start in 2026.
Featured Item(s)
EuroNews writes:
Artificial intelligence is a matter of design – not destiny.
That’s the message from 10 philanthropic foundations aiming to loosen the grip that the technology’s moneyed developers, fueled by an investing frenzy, hold over its evolution.
Launched Tuesday under the name Humanity AI, the coalition is committing $500 million (€427 million) across the next five years to place human interests at the forefront of the technology’s rapid integration into daily life.
“The future belongs to those who actively create it, and that shan’t be a few leaders in Silicon Valley. It’s all of us,” Mozilla Foundation Executive Director Nabiha Syed said in an emailed statement.
Philanthropists to invest €427 million to curbs tech giants’ influence on new AI
Let’s hope they are successful.
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russia’s War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
Ars Technica reports:
Why Signal’s post-quantum makeover is an amazing engineering achievement
Feds seize $15 billion from alleged forced labor scam built on “human suffering”
Inside the web infrastructure revolt over Google’s AI Overviews
EuroNews reports:
Netherlands invokes rare emergency law to take charge of Chinese chipmaker
Free Software Foundation Europe reports:
Refund of pre-installed Windows: Lenovo must pay 20,000 euros in damages
DMA litigation against Apple: a quick recap
The Register reports:
Librephone battles the proprietary binary blob
Fantastic.
Lemonde Informatiqué reports:
Microsoft 365 Education traque illégalement les données des élèves
The Guardian reports:
Italian news publishers demand investigation into Google’s AI Overviews
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Victory! California Requires Transparency for AI Police Reports
Labor Unions, EFF Sue Trump Administration to Stop Ideological Surveillance of Free Speech Online
Signal reports:
Signal Desktop introduces Notification profiles
Tor Browser has an update:
Tor Browser will remove all of the Firefox AI features that Mozilla has been recently adding
Neutral
Ben Werdmueller advises:
News Orgs: Build what makes you special. Buy the rest.
NiemanLab shares:
“How can we help?” The Engaged Journalism Exchange aims to create belonging through media
Tech Policy reports:
To Have Democracy, We Must Contest Data
Government Technology reports:
CDT: Growing AI Use in Schools Brings Benefits and New Risks
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
Poynter reports:
A united media stands up against the Pentagon’s press restrictions
404 Media reports:
ICE, Secret Service, Navy All Had Access to Flock’s Nationwide Network of Cameras
Pariah States
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
EFF and Five Human Rights Organizations Urge Action Around Microsoft’s Role in Israel’s War on Gaza
TechCrunch reports:
Spyware maker NSO confirms acquisition by U.S. investor
404 Media reports:
Senators Warn Saudi Arabia’s Acquisition of EA Will Be Used for ‘Foreign Influence’
BleepingComputer reports:
North Korean hackers use EtherHiding to hide malware on the blockchain
DarkReading reports:
China Hackers Test AI-Optimized Attack Chains in Taiwan
The Register reports:
Chinese cyberspies snoop on Russian IT biz in rare east-on-east attack
Big Tech
Ars Technica reports:
Trump admin pressured Facebook into removing ICE-tracking group
Infrequently Noted reports:
The App Store Was Always Authoritarian
MDR reports:
Windows-Umstellung kostet Sachsen-Anhalt mehr als vier Millionen Euro
404 Media reports:
The End of Windows 10 Support Is an E-Waste Disaster in the Making
Scott Larson reports:
Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft’s move towards a surveillance state
BertHub has:
The Torment Nexus has:
Should we be afraid of AI? Maybe a little
Personally I think of AI as a hammer and humans as nails. 95% of the time, it’s hammering us into a pile of shit. 5% of the time it can be turned around to pull us out.
Speaking of, The Verge reports:
OpenAI allegedly sent police to an AI regulation advocate’s door
Tuta shares:
How GoDaddy hollowed out Host Europe & DomainFactory (plus better European web hosting providers)
Terror
Politico reports:
‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat
Cybersecurity/Privacy
BleepingComputer reports:
Spain dismantles “GXC Team” cybercrime syndicate, arrests leader
Wired reports:
Satellites Are Leaking the World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data
The Register reports:
British govt agents demand action after UK mega-cyberattacks surge 50%
Internet Exchange shares:
A Shield in Uncertain Times: The Role of Encryption
Fediverse
Connected Places has:
Ben Werdmueller tells us:
Why the open social web matters now
For Better reflects on:
Defining a new kind of social app
Media CCC shares:
Decentralising Freedom: Open Source for Sovereignty
Fedify announces:
Fedify 1.9.0: Security enhancements, improved DX, and expanded framework support
Loops has:
We Distribute has:
Wafrn is for People Who Miss Tumblr’s Chaotic Energy
Mastodon announces:
The first beta release of Mastodon 4.5.0 is ready for testing!
TechCrunch reports:
Threads is getting group chats as messaging rolls out to the EU
Forgejo announces:
Slightly Decentralized Social Media
ATProtocol Dev is:
Announcing ATmosphereConf: Vancouver, March 2026
Remember Bluesky is half-ass but ATProto has potential.
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#ActivityPub #AI #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Democracy #Fascism #Fedify #Fediverse #GoDaddy #Loops #Mastodon #Newsmast #Signal #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism #Threads #WARFN
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Destroying Autocracy – October 16, 2025
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.
FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.
We’re off to France to scout locations for The Fulcrum’s worldwide HQ. 😉 So, there will not be a post for the next two weeks.
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.
We are posting on the Fediverse now at @thefulcrum @thefulcrum.dev and original website content will start in 2026.
Featured Item(s)
EuroNews writes:
Artificial intelligence is a matter of design – not destiny.
That’s the message from 10 philanthropic foundations aiming to loosen the grip that the technology’s moneyed developers, fueled by an investing frenzy, hold over its evolution.
Launched Tuesday under the name Humanity AI, the coalition is committing $500 million (€427 million) across the next five years to place human interests at the forefront of the technology’s rapid integration into daily life.
“The future belongs to those who actively create it, and that shan’t be a few leaders in Silicon Valley. It’s all of us,” Mozilla Foundation Executive Director Nabiha Syed said in an emailed statement.
Philanthropists to invest €427 million to curbs tech giants’ influence on new AI
Let’s hope they are successful.
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russia’s War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
Ars Technica reports:
Why Signal’s post-quantum makeover is an amazing engineering achievement
Feds seize $15 billion from alleged forced labor scam built on “human suffering”
Inside the web infrastructure revolt over Google’s AI Overviews
EuroNews reports:
Netherlands invokes rare emergency law to take charge of Chinese chipmaker
Free Software Foundation Europe reports:
Refund of pre-installed Windows: Lenovo must pay 20,000 euros in damages
DMA litigation against Apple: a quick recap
The Register reports:
Librephone battles the proprietary binary blob
Fantastic.
Lemonde Informatiqué reports:
Microsoft 365 Education traque illégalement les données des élèves
The Guardian reports:
Italian news publishers demand investigation into Google’s AI Overviews
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Victory! California Requires Transparency for AI Police Reports
Labor Unions, EFF Sue Trump Administration to Stop Ideological Surveillance of Free Speech Online
Signal reports:
Signal Desktop introduces Notification profiles
Tor Browser has an update:
Tor Browser will remove all of the Firefox AI features that Mozilla has been recently adding
Neutral
Ben Werdmueller advises:
News Orgs: Build what makes you special. Buy the rest.
NiemanLab shares:
“How can we help?” The Engaged Journalism Exchange aims to create belonging through media
Tech Policy reports:
To Have Democracy, We Must Contest Data
Government Technology reports:
CDT: Growing AI Use in Schools Brings Benefits and New Risks
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
Poynter reports:
A united media stands up against the Pentagon’s press restrictions
404 Media reports:
ICE, Secret Service, Navy All Had Access to Flock’s Nationwide Network of Cameras
Pariah States
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
EFF and Five Human Rights Organizations Urge Action Around Microsoft’s Role in Israel’s War on Gaza
TechCrunch reports:
Spyware maker NSO confirms acquisition by U.S. investor
404 Media reports:
Senators Warn Saudi Arabia’s Acquisition of EA Will Be Used for ‘Foreign Influence’
BleepingComputer reports:
North Korean hackers use EtherHiding to hide malware on the blockchain
DarkReading reports:
China Hackers Test AI-Optimized Attack Chains in Taiwan
The Register reports:
Chinese cyberspies snoop on Russian IT biz in rare east-on-east attack
Big Tech
Ars Technica reports:
Trump admin pressured Facebook into removing ICE-tracking group
Infrequently Noted reports:
The App Store Was Always Authoritarian
MDR reports:
Windows-Umstellung kostet Sachsen-Anhalt mehr als vier Millionen Euro
404 Media reports:
The End of Windows 10 Support Is an E-Waste Disaster in the Making
Scott Larson reports:
Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft’s move towards a surveillance state
BertHub has:
The Torment Nexus has:
Should we be afraid of AI? Maybe a little
Personally I think of AI as a hammer and humans as nails. 95% of the time, it’s hammering us into a pile of shit. 5% of the time it can be turned around to pull us out.
Speaking of, The Verge reports:
OpenAI allegedly sent police to an AI regulation advocate’s door
Tuta shares:
How GoDaddy hollowed out Host Europe & DomainFactory (plus better European web hosting providers)
Terror
Politico reports:
‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat
Cybersecurity/Privacy
BleepingComputer reports:
Spain dismantles “GXC Team” cybercrime syndicate, arrests leader
Wired reports:
Satellites Are Leaking the World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data
The Register reports:
British govt agents demand action after UK mega-cyberattacks surge 50%
Internet Exchange shares:
A Shield in Uncertain Times: The Role of Encryption
Fediverse
Connected Places has:
Ben Werdmueller tells us:
Why the open social web matters now
For Better reflects on:
Defining a new kind of social app
Media CCC shares:
Decentralising Freedom: Open Source for Sovereignty
Fedify announces:
Fedify 1.9.0: Security enhancements, improved DX, and expanded framework support
Loops has:
We Distribute has:
Wafrn is for People Who Miss Tumblr’s Chaotic Energy
Mastodon announces:
The first beta release of Mastodon 4.5.0 is ready for testing!
TechCrunch reports:
Threads is getting group chats as messaging rolls out to the EU
Forgejo announces:
Slightly Decentralized Social Media
ATProtocol Dev is:
Announcing ATmosphereConf: Vancouver, March 2026
Remember Bluesky is half-ass but ATProto has potential.
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#ActivityPub #AI #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Democracy #Fascism #Fedify #Fediverse #GoDaddy #Loops #Mastodon #Newsmast #Signal #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism #Threads #WARFN
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Destroying Autocracy – October 02, 2025
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
Cory Doctorow writes:
(I just gave) my first-ever speech about AI and I wasn’t sure how it would go over, but thankfully, it went great and sparked a lively Q&A. One of those questions came from a young man who said something like “So, you’re saying a third of the stock market is tied up in seven AI companies that have no way to become profitable and that this is a bubble that’s going to burst and take the whole economy with it?”
I said, “Yes, that’s right.”
He said, “OK, but what can we do about that?”
The real (economic) AI apocalypse is nigh
Just adjusted my investments as these c^nts are going to drag down everyone else with them.
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 has a guest editorial:
Why I gave the world wide web away for free
LibreOffice celebrates:
LibreOffice turns 15: a celebration of freedom, collaboration and open technologies and standards
It’s FOSS News has:
Austria’s Armed Forces Gets Rid of Microsoft Office (Mostly) for LibreOffice
Framablog has:
Fin de Windows 10 : faisons le point
TechCrunch reports:
DJI loses lawsuit over classification as Chinese military company
California Governor Newsom signs landmark AI safety bill SB 53
BleepingComputer reports:
EU probes SAP over anti-competitive ERP support practices
NOS reports:
Judge: Instagram and Facebook should be given algorithm-free option
Tangle says:
It’s time to embrace the tech backlash.
TechDirt reports:
Disney’s Stupid, Pointless Ban Of Jimmy Kimmel Lost Them 1.7 Million Streaming Subscribers
NPR reports:
Hundreds of celebrities relaunch a McCarthy-era committee to defend free speech
The Daily Northwestern reports:
Flock contract termination talks persist after cameras reinstalled, city orders cease-and-desist
404 Media reports:
404 Media and Freedom of the Press Foundation Sue DHS
The Register reports:
EU funds are flowing into spyware companies, and politicians are demanding answers
Signal announces:
Signal Protocol and Post-Quantum Ratchets
DIY Conspiracy has:
The Counterforce: Building a DIY Punk Infrastructure Against Corporate Platforms
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
404 Media reports:
ICE to Buy Tool that Tracks Locations of Hundreds of Millions of Phones Every Day
The Register reports:
ICE plans to scour Facebook, TikTok, X, and even defunct Google+ for illegal immigration leads
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
EFF, ACLU to SFPD: Stop Illegally Sharing Data With ICE and Anti-Abortion States
Mexican Allies Raise Alarms About New Mass Surveillance Laws, Call for International Support
TechPolicy reports:
Control for Whom? Keeping an Eye on the Dark Side of America’s New Wearables Campaign.
This tracks for the Supreme C^nts.
The Guardian reports:
Starmer to unveil digital ID cards in plan set to ignite civil liberties row
TechCrunch reports:
UK government tries again to access encrypted Apple customer data: Report
The United Kuntdum is at it again.
The Association for Progressive Communications shares:
Pariah States
The Register reports:
Fake North Korean IT workers sneaking into healthcare, finance, and AI
Most HR types I have run into are stupid, but this is approaching ridiculous.
Hunt for RedNovember: Beijing hacked critical orgs in year-long snooping campaign
DarkReading reports:
New China APT Strikes With Precision and Persistence
BleepingComputer reports:
Dutch teens arrested for trying to spy on Europol for Russia
The Kyiv Independent reports:
Moldova casts blame on Russia for attempts to disrupt pivotal parliamentary elections
Big Media
Columbia Journalism Review reports:
The Pentagon Press Gears Up for a Fight
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Wave of Phony News Quotes Affects Everyone—Including EFF
NiemanLab reports:
Scammers are using video deepfakes of journalists to peddle products online
Kagi announces:
Big Tech
Open Media Network says:
The #AI bubble might be nastier than the Dot.com crash
The Guardian reports:
Leading UK tech investor warns of ‘disconcerting’ signs of AI stock bubble
Again, see the featured article.
TikTok ‘directs child accounts to pornographic content within a few clicks’
DarkReading reports:
‘Trifecta’ of Google Gemini Flaws Turn AI Into Attack Vehicle
F-Droid needs our help:
F-Droid and Google’s Developer Registration Decree
Fuck Google.
Cybersecurity/Privacy
The Register reports:
Feds cut funding to program that shared cyber threat info with local governments
Tile trackers are a stalker’s dream, say Georgia Tech researchers
BleepingComputer reports:
Sendit sued by the FTC for illegal collection of children data
Ben Werdmuller says:
Your private data isn’t as private as you think
Fediverse
Connected Places has a late:
NHAM announces:
How Indie Video Killed The Spotify Star
This looks awesome.
IFTAS announces:
The Social Web Foundation previews:
Cooperative Social Networks Berlin Fediday
The Applied Social Media Lab has:
Introducing the ASML ActivityPub Fuzzer: Improving Testing in the Fediverse
Great, great stuff.
Newsmast announces:
Building apps for social spaces
This is exactly the type of content The Programmer’s Fulcrum will cover. And we need more Fediverse businesses like this.
Mastodon has:
Bringing Quote Posts to Mastodon
Speaking of, Terence Eden has:
Getting started with Mastodon’s Quote Posts – technical implementation details for servers
Activity Pub for WordPress announces:
7.5.0 — Follow the Feed, Quote the Lead
TechCrunch reports:
Threads takes on X with new communities feature
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
TechCrunch reports:
Bluesky rolls out age verification for users in Ohio
The Social Web Foundation says:
The BlueSky Patent Non-Aggression Pledge is Good for The Social Web
Internet Exchange reports:
Bluesky Adopts More Flexible Model for Content Moderation
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#ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #IFTAS #Mastodon #Newsmast #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism #Threads #WordPress
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Destroying Autocracy – October 02, 2025
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
Cory Doctorow writes:
(I just gave) my first-ever speech about AI and I wasn’t sure how it would go over, but thankfully, it went great and sparked a lively Q&A. One of those questions came from a young man who said something like “So, you’re saying a third of the stock market is tied up in seven AI companies that have no way to become profitable and that this is a bubble that’s going to burst and take the whole economy with it?”
I said, “Yes, that’s right.”
He said, “OK, but what can we do about that?”
The real (economic) AI apocalypse is nigh
Just adjusted my investments as these c^nts are going to drag down everyone else with them.
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 has a guest editorial:
Why I gave the world wide web away for free
LibreOffice celebrates:
LibreOffice turns 15: a celebration of freedom, collaboration and open technologies and standards
It’s FOSS News has:
Austria’s Armed Forces Gets Rid of Microsoft Office (Mostly) for LibreOffice
Framablog has:
Fin de Windows 10 : faisons le point
TechCrunch reports:
DJI loses lawsuit over classification as Chinese military company
California Governor Newsom signs landmark AI safety bill SB 53
BleepingComputer reports:
EU probes SAP over anti-competitive ERP support practices
NOS reports:
Judge: Instagram and Facebook should be given algorithm-free option
Tangle says:
It’s time to embrace the tech backlash.
TechDirt reports:
Disney’s Stupid, Pointless Ban Of Jimmy Kimmel Lost Them 1.7 Million Streaming Subscribers
NPR reports:
Hundreds of celebrities relaunch a McCarthy-era committee to defend free speech
The Daily Northwestern reports:
Flock contract termination talks persist after cameras reinstalled, city orders cease-and-desist
404 Media reports:
404 Media and Freedom of the Press Foundation Sue DHS
The Register reports:
EU funds are flowing into spyware companies, and politicians are demanding answers
Signal announces:
Signal Protocol and Post-Quantum Ratchets
DIY Conspiracy has:
The Counterforce: Building a DIY Punk Infrastructure Against Corporate Platforms
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
404 Media reports:
ICE to Buy Tool that Tracks Locations of Hundreds of Millions of Phones Every Day
The Register reports:
ICE plans to scour Facebook, TikTok, X, and even defunct Google+ for illegal immigration leads
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
EFF, ACLU to SFPD: Stop Illegally Sharing Data With ICE and Anti-Abortion States
Mexican Allies Raise Alarms About New Mass Surveillance Laws, Call for International Support
TechPolicy reports:
Control for Whom? Keeping an Eye on the Dark Side of America’s New Wearables Campaign.
This tracks for the Supreme C^nts.
The Guardian reports:
Starmer to unveil digital ID cards in plan set to ignite civil liberties row
TechCrunch reports:
UK government tries again to access encrypted Apple customer data: Report
The United Kuntdum is at it again.
The Association for Progressive Communications shares:
Pariah States
The Register reports:
Fake North Korean IT workers sneaking into healthcare, finance, and AI
Most HR types I have run into are stupid, but this is approaching ridiculous.
Hunt for RedNovember: Beijing hacked critical orgs in year-long snooping campaign
DarkReading reports:
New China APT Strikes With Precision and Persistence
BleepingComputer reports:
Dutch teens arrested for trying to spy on Europol for Russia
The Kyiv Independent reports:
Moldova casts blame on Russia for attempts to disrupt pivotal parliamentary elections
Big Media
Columbia Journalism Review reports:
The Pentagon Press Gears Up for a Fight
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Wave of Phony News Quotes Affects Everyone—Including EFF
NiemanLab reports:
Scammers are using video deepfakes of journalists to peddle products online
Kagi announces:
Big Tech
Open Media Network says:
The #AI bubble might be nastier than the Dot.com crash
The Guardian reports:
Leading UK tech investor warns of ‘disconcerting’ signs of AI stock bubble
Again, see the featured article.
TikTok ‘directs child accounts to pornographic content within a few clicks’
DarkReading reports:
‘Trifecta’ of Google Gemini Flaws Turn AI Into Attack Vehicle
F-Droid needs our help:
F-Droid and Google’s Developer Registration Decree
Fuck Google.
Cybersecurity/Privacy
The Register reports:
Feds cut funding to program that shared cyber threat info with local governments
Tile trackers are a stalker’s dream, say Georgia Tech researchers
BleepingComputer reports:
Sendit sued by the FTC for illegal collection of children data
Ben Werdmuller says:
Your private data isn’t as private as you think
Fediverse
Connected Places has a late:
NHAM announces:
How Indie Video Killed The Spotify Star
This looks awesome.
IFTAS announces:
The Social Web Foundation previews:
Cooperative Social Networks Berlin Fediday
The Applied Social Media Lab has:
Introducing the ASML ActivityPub Fuzzer: Improving Testing in the Fediverse
Great, great stuff.
Newsmast announces:
Building apps for social spaces
This is exactly the type of content The Programmer’s Fulcrum will cover. And we need more Fediverse businesses like this.
Mastodon has:
Bringing Quote Posts to Mastodon
Speaking of, Terence Eden has:
Getting started with Mastodon’s Quote Posts – technical implementation details for servers
Activity Pub for WordPress announces:
7.5.0 — Follow the Feed, Quote the Lead
TechCrunch reports:
Threads takes on X with new communities feature
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
TechCrunch reports:
Bluesky rolls out age verification for users in Ohio
The Social Web Foundation says:
The BlueSky Patent Non-Aggression Pledge is Good for The Social Web
Internet Exchange reports:
Bluesky Adopts More Flexible Model for Content Moderation
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#ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #IFTAS #Mastodon #Newsmast #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism #Threads #WordPress
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Destroying Autocracy – October 02, 2025
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
Cory Doctorow writes:
(I just gave) my first-ever speech about AI and I wasn’t sure how it would go over, but thankfully, it went great and sparked a lively Q&A. One of those questions came from a young man who said something like “So, you’re saying a third of the stock market is tied up in seven AI companies that have no way to become profitable and that this is a bubble that’s going to burst and take the whole economy with it?”
I said, “Yes, that’s right.”
He said, “OK, but what can we do about that?”
The real (economic) AI apocalypse is nigh
Just adjusted my investments as these c^nts are going to drag down everyone else with them.
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 has a guest editorial:
Why I gave the world wide web away for free
LibreOffice celebrates:
LibreOffice turns 15: a celebration of freedom, collaboration and open technologies and standards
It’s FOSS News has:
Austria’s Armed Forces Gets Rid of Microsoft Office (Mostly) for LibreOffice
Framablog has:
Fin de Windows 10 : faisons le point
TechCrunch reports:
DJI loses lawsuit over classification as Chinese military company
California Governor Newsom signs landmark AI safety bill SB 53
BleepingComputer reports:
EU probes SAP over anti-competitive ERP support practices
NOS reports:
Judge: Instagram and Facebook should be given algorithm-free option
Tangle says:
It’s time to embrace the tech backlash.
TechDirt reports:
Disney’s Stupid, Pointless Ban Of Jimmy Kimmel Lost Them 1.7 Million Streaming Subscribers
NPR reports:
Hundreds of celebrities relaunch a McCarthy-era committee to defend free speech
The Daily Northwestern reports:
Flock contract termination talks persist after cameras reinstalled, city orders cease-and-desist
404 Media reports:
404 Media and Freedom of the Press Foundation Sue DHS
The Register reports:
EU funds are flowing into spyware companies, and politicians are demanding answers
Signal announces:
Signal Protocol and Post-Quantum Ratchets
DIY Conspiracy has:
The Counterforce: Building a DIY Punk Infrastructure Against Corporate Platforms
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
404 Media reports:
ICE to Buy Tool that Tracks Locations of Hundreds of Millions of Phones Every Day
The Register reports:
ICE plans to scour Facebook, TikTok, X, and even defunct Google+ for illegal immigration leads
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
EFF, ACLU to SFPD: Stop Illegally Sharing Data With ICE and Anti-Abortion States
Mexican Allies Raise Alarms About New Mass Surveillance Laws, Call for International Support
TechPolicy reports:
Control for Whom? Keeping an Eye on the Dark Side of America’s New Wearables Campaign.
This tracks for the Supreme C^nts.
The Guardian reports:
Starmer to unveil digital ID cards in plan set to ignite civil liberties row
TechCrunch reports:
UK government tries again to access encrypted Apple customer data: Report
The United Kuntdum is at it again.
The Association for Progressive Communications shares:
Pariah States
The Register reports:
Fake North Korean IT workers sneaking into healthcare, finance, and AI
Most HR types I have run into are stupid, but this is approaching ridiculous.
Hunt for RedNovember: Beijing hacked critical orgs in year-long snooping campaign
DarkReading reports:
New China APT Strikes With Precision and Persistence
BleepingComputer reports:
Dutch teens arrested for trying to spy on Europol for Russia
The Kyiv Independent reports:
Moldova casts blame on Russia for attempts to disrupt pivotal parliamentary elections
Big Media
Columbia Journalism Review reports:
The Pentagon Press Gears Up for a Fight
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Wave of Phony News Quotes Affects Everyone—Including EFF
NiemanLab reports:
Scammers are using video deepfakes of journalists to peddle products online
Kagi announces:
Big Tech
Open Media Network says:
The #AI bubble might be nastier than the Dot.com crash
The Guardian reports:
Leading UK tech investor warns of ‘disconcerting’ signs of AI stock bubble
Again, see the featured article.
TikTok ‘directs child accounts to pornographic content within a few clicks’
DarkReading reports:
‘Trifecta’ of Google Gemini Flaws Turn AI Into Attack Vehicle
F-Droid needs our help:
F-Droid and Google’s Developer Registration Decree
Fuck Google.
Cybersecurity/Privacy
The Register reports:
Feds cut funding to program that shared cyber threat info with local governments
Tile trackers are a stalker’s dream, say Georgia Tech researchers
BleepingComputer reports:
Sendit sued by the FTC for illegal collection of children data
Ben Werdmuller says:
Your private data isn’t as private as you think
Fediverse
Connected Places has a late:
NHAM announces:
How Indie Video Killed The Spotify Star
This looks awesome.
IFTAS announces:
The Social Web Foundation previews:
Cooperative Social Networks Berlin Fediday
The Applied Social Media Lab has:
Introducing the ASML ActivityPub Fuzzer: Improving Testing in the Fediverse
Great, great stuff.
Newsmast announces:
Building apps for social spaces
This is exactly the type of content The Programmer’s Fulcrum will cover. And we need more Fediverse businesses like this.
Mastodon has:
Bringing Quote Posts to Mastodon
Speaking of, Terence Eden has:
Getting started with Mastodon’s Quote Posts – technical implementation details for servers
Activity Pub for WordPress announces:
7.5.0 — Follow the Feed, Quote the Lead
TechCrunch reports:
Threads takes on X with new communities feature
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
TechCrunch reports:
Bluesky rolls out age verification for users in Ohio
The Social Web Foundation says:
The BlueSky Patent Non-Aggression Pledge is Good for The Social Web
Internet Exchange reports:
Bluesky Adopts More Flexible Model for Content Moderation
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#ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #IFTAS #Mastodon #Newsmast #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism #Threads #WordPress