Destroying Autocracy – 27 March 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.
Featured Item
The Register reports:
EU OS is a proposal for an immutable KDE-based Linux distribution with a Windows-like desktop, designed for use in European public-sector organizations.
Rather than a new distro, it’s a website that documents planning such a thing, what functions the OS might need, how to deploy and manage it, and how to handle users.
EU OS drafts a locked-down Linux blueprint for Eurocrats
This needs to be implemented quickly and then exported to non-EU, non-fascist states as well.
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery
The Kyiv Independent reports:
Italy suspends Starlink purchase negotiations with SpaceX amid Musk controversy
Voice of America journalists sue Trump administration following president’s order to gut free press
The Register reports:
OTF, which backs Tor, Let’s Encrypt and more, sues to save funding from Trump cuts
US defense contractor cops to sloppy security, settles after infosec lead blows whistle
Wired reports:
How to Avoid US-Based Digital Services—and Why You Might Want To
Trump’s Aggression Sours Europe on US Cloud Giants
MIT Technology Review reports on:
Why the world is looking to ditch US AI models
In news sure to make Cory Doctorow happy, Tech Policy reports:
Interoperability in the EU: A Judgment Opens the Door
NPR reports:
As the Trump administration purges web pages, this group is rushing to save them
California announces:
Attorney General Bonta Urgently Issues Consumer Alert for 23andMe Customers
404 Media reports:
Mozilla Foundation Calls on Tech Industry to Block ICE Contractor
The Guardian reports:
A French university is offering ‘scientific asylum’ for US talent. The brain drain has started
The Huffington Post reports:
Pete Hegseth Sued Over Signal Text Debacle
The Kyiv Post reports:
First Surveillance Satellite of Planned Czechia-Ukrainian Constellation in Orbit
Neutral
Tech Policy has:
Scientists Respond to FTC Inquiry into Tech Censorship
The Evil Empire Strikes Back
The Verge asks:
Is it safe to travel with your phone right now?
It’s not safe to travel to the U.S. period. Or even within it by air.
DarkReading reports:
US Weakens Disinformation Defenses, as Russia & China Ramp Up
Heisse reports:
US-Behörde stoppt Gelder für Let’s Encrypt und Tor ‒ Open Tech Fund wehrt sich
Tech Policy reports on:
AI Surveillance on the Rise in US, but Tactics of Repression Not New
How the White House is Gaslighting the World About Europe’s Digital Laws
On a related note to The Guardian article above, Not a Tech Bro has:
Not invented here
Pariah States
BleepingComputer reports:
Cyberattack takes down Ukrainian state railway’s online services
DarkReading reports:
Meet the Low-Key Access Broker Supercharging Russian State Cybercrime
FCC Investigates China-Backed Tech Suppliers for Evading US Operations Ban
Big Media
America2 reports:
The Substack Dilemma: How Creators Are Inadvertently Fueling America’s Failure
Nothing personal but if you are on Substack, you’re a fascist or uninformed or an amoral c^nt.
Vanity Fair reports:
Trump’s Attacks on Press Freedom Are Paving the Way for Authoritarianism
The Washington Examiner reports:
Kari Lake withdraws cancellation of Radio Free Europe funding
Big Tech
Politico reports:
Musk’s X suspends opposition accounts in Turkey amid civil unrest
How surprising. Two set of c^nts work together.
MIT Technology Review reports:
Why handing over total control to AI agents would be a huge mistake
Tech Policy asks:
Will Ireland be Big Tech’s Lapdog Yet Again?
Cybersecurity/Privacy
The Register reports:
As nation-state hacking becomes ‘more in your face,’ are supply chains secure?
BleepingComputer reports:
New VanHelsing ransomware targets Windows, ARM, ESXi systems
TechCrunch reports:
How to tell if your online accounts have been hacked
404 Media reports:
When Your Threat Model Is Being a Moron
You Need to Use Signal’s Nickname Feature
The Verge reports:
Vivaldi bundles Proton VPN into its web browser
Fediverse
The Fediverse Report has:
Fediverse Report – #109
Arxiv has a research paper:
FediverseSharing: A Novel Dataset on Cross-Platform Interaction
Dynamics between Threads and Mastodon Users
Letterbook has a:
Development Update
Fedihost has some how to videos:
Creating A GoToSocial Instance on FediHost
Configuring A PeerTube Instance
Reset Digital for Good has:
Dezentrale YouTube-Alternative PeerTube: Nachhaltiger dank Peer-to-Peer?
Other Slightly Federated Social Media
TechCrunch reports:
A world without Caesars: How the ATProto community is rebuilding the web to return power to the people
Hmm. Are they really?
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
#109 #ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #ATProtocol #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #GoToSocial #Mastodon #Peertube #Signal #StopChina #StopIran #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #Threads
https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1650
