Battalion 👊🗡️⛓️💥<p><strong>Destroying Autocracy – September 11, 2025</strong></p><p><strong>Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.</strong></p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p><strong>FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.</strong></p><p><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.</em></p><p><em>You <a href="https://www.thefulcrum.dev/about/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">can sign up now</a> 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.</em></p> <p><strong>Featured Item</strong></p> <p>Dave Rupert writes and asks:</p><p>I think my answer to “Why would anybody start a website (in 2025)?” is the same answer for the content creator in the age of AI problem: I don’t know, but you gotta want to.</p><p>Money sweetens the deal when making content or websites, but we’ve shaken the money tree pretty hard over the last couple decades and it’s looking bare.</p><p>Increasingly, you’ve got to find other sources of inspiration to make a website – which by the way are still the coolest fucking things ever.</p><p><a href="https://daverupert.com/2025/09/why-would-anybody-start-a-website/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Why would anybody start a website?</a></p><p><strong>To join the Open Media Network for one.</strong></p> <p><strong>We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.</strong></p> <p><strong>The response to Russia’s War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery</strong></p> <p>Speaking of websites, the Columbia Journalism Review has:</p><p><a href="https://www.cjr.org/the-interview/tom-ley-defector-five-years.php" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Tom Ley Thinks More People Should Experience Worker-Owned Journalism</a></p><p>The Next Web reports:</p><p><a href="https://thenextweb.com/news/digital-sovereignty-europe" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Reclaiming the stack: Europe’s bid for digital sovereignty</a></p><p>The Register reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/10/big_clouds_scramble_over_eu/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Big clouds scramble as EU Data Act brings new data transfer rules</a></p><p>Heisse reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.heise.de/en/news/400-scientists-speak-out-against-chat-control-10637109.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">400 scientists speak out against chat control</a></p><p><strong>Europe is better than anywhere else, but it isn’t perfect.</strong></p><p>The Guardian reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/06/drones-evolving-technology-at-ukraine-conflict-heart" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">‘It is a war of drones now’: the ever-evolving tech dominating the frontline in Ukraine</a></p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/11/lawmaker-calls-for-french-criminal-investigation-into-tiktok" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Lawmaker calls for French criminal investigation into TikTok</a></p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/05/google-fined-european-union" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">EU fines Google nearly €3bn for ‘abusing’ dominant position in ad tech</a></p><p>Speaking of, Tech Policy reports:</p><p><a href="https://techpolicy.press/empowered-workers-are-a-bulwark-against-illegal-monopoly" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Empowered Workers Are a Bulwark Against Illegal Monopoly</a></p><p>Ars Technica reports:</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/09/judge-anthropics-1-5b-settlement-is-being-shoved-down-the-throat-of-authors/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Judge: Anthropic’s $1.5B settlement is being shoved “down the throat of authors”</a></p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/09/pay-per-output-ai-firms-blindsided-by-beefed-up-robots-txt-instructions/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Pay-per-output? AI firms blindsided by beefed up robots.txt instructions.</a></p><p>Ben Werdmuller examines:</p><p><a href="https://werd.io/wordpress-for-newsrooms/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">WordPress for newsrooms</a></p><p><strong>This is the type of content we will feature in The Programmer’s Fulcrum in 2026.</strong></p><p>Make Use of shares:</p><p><a href="https://www.makeuseof.com/vivaldi-best-built-in-email-client-vs-gmail/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">I stopped using Gmail for this built-in client and now Gmail feels stuck</a></p><p><strong>Here is a TAM lite tool for you.</strong></p><p>Mojeek announces:</p><p><a href="https://blog.mojeek.com/2025/09/mojeek-is-not-an-answer-engine.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Mojeek is Not an Answer Engine</a></p><p>Tuta shares:</p><p><a href="https://tuta.com/blog/chat-control-criticism" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Chat Control is back & we’ve got one month to stop the EU CSAM scanning plans.</a></p><p>The Counterforce has a guide:</p><p><a href="https://the-counterforce.org/signal-for-punks/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Signal For Punks (it has Stories now!)</a></p><p><strong>I describe myself as 25% intellectual, 25% bohemian, 25% hillbilly, and 25% punk so this appeals to me. 😉</strong></p> <p><strong>Neutral</strong></p> <p>The Observer reports:</p><p><a href="https://observer.co.uk/culture/books/article/nick-clegg-and-tim-berners-lee-the-battle-for-the-soul-of-the-internet" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Nick Clegg and Tim Berners-Lee: the battle for the soul of the internet</a></p><p>Tech Policy reports:</p><p><a href="https://techpolicy.press/washington-and-brussels-vie-for-control-over-big-tech" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Washington and Brussels Vie for Control Over Big Tech</a></p> <p><strong>The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back</strong></p> <p>404 Media reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.404media.co/ice-spends-millions-on-clearview-ai-face-recognition-to-find-people-assaulting-officers/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">ICE Spends Millions on Clearview AI Facial Recognition to Find People ‘Assaulting’ Officers</a></p><p>The Kyiv Independent reports:</p><p><a href="https://kyivindependent.com/us-steps-back-from-joint-efforts-to-combat-misinformation-ft-reports/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">US steps back from joint efforts to combat misinformation, FT reports</a></p><p>TechDirt reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/09/08/uk-age-verification-data-confirms-what-critics-always-predicted-mass-migration-to-sketchier-sites/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">UK Age Verification Data Confirms What Critics Always Predicted: Mass Migration To Sketchier Sites</a></p> <p><strong>Pariah States</strong></p> <p>BleepingComputer reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/czech-cyber-agency-warns-against-chinese-tech-in-critical-infrastructure/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Czech cyber agency warns against Chinese tech in critical infrastructure</a></p><p>The Christian Science Monitor reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2025/0907/israeli-media-gaza-war-palestinian-suffering" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Why some Israeli journalists only now are turning a lens on Gaza devastation</a></p><p>DarkReading reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.darkreading.com/cybersecurity-operations/chinese-hackers-allegedly-pose-us-lawmaker" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Chinese Hackers Allegedly Pose as US Lawmaker</a></p> <p><strong>Big Media</strong></p> <p>The Guardian reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/sep/06/existential-crisis-google-use-ai-search-upended-web-publishers-models" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">‘Existential crisis’: how Google’s shift to AI has upended the online news model</a></p><p>TechDirt reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/09/02/wired-business-insider-editors-duped-by-completely-bogus-ai-using-journalist-who-made-up-towns-people-that-dont-exist/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Wired, Business Insider Editors Duped By Completely Bogus ‘AI’ Using ‘Journalist’ Who Made Up Towns, People That Don’t Exist</a></p> <p><strong>Big Tech</strong></p> <p>Tech Policy reports:</p><p><a href="https://techpolicy.press/how-big-techs-invisible-hand-reaches-latin-american-regulators" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">How Big Tech’s ‘Invisible Hand’ Reaches Latin American Regulators</a></p><p>The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/09/age-verification-windfall-big-tech-and-death-sentence-smaller-platforms" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Age Verification Is A Windfall for Big Tech—And A Death Sentence For Smaller Platforms</a></p><p>The Register reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/07/googles_ai_cites_written_by_ai/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">It’s AI all the way down as Google’s AI cites web pages written by AI</a></p><p>The Guardian reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/11/google-gemini-ai-training-humans" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">How thousands of ‘overworked, underpaid’ humans train Google’s AI to seem smart</a></p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/08/chatbots-mental-health-warning-super-intelligent-ai-nate-soares" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Impact of chatbots on mental health is warning over future of AI, expert says</a></p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/08/meta-virtual-reality-whistleblowers" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Meta hid harms to children from VR products, whistleblowers allege</a></p><p>The BBC reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2kzl79jv15o" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Meta to stop its AI chatbots from talking to teens about suicide</a></p><p>404 Media reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.404media.co/instagram-account-promotes-holocaust-denial-t-shirts-to-400-000-followers/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Instagram Account Promotes Holocaust Denial T-Shirts to 400,000 Followers</a></p><p>Ars Technica has:</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/09/former-whatsapp-security-boss-sues-meta-for-systemic-cybersecurity-failures/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Former WhatsApp security boss in lawsuit likens Meta’s culture to a “cult”</a></p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/09/spacex-complaints-to-fcc-pay-off-with-17-billion-spectrum-buy-from-echostar/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">EchoStar to sell spectrum to SpaceX after FCC threatened to revoke licenses</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d6aac7f1-b955-4c76-a144-1fe8d909f70b" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">AI vs. MAGA: Populists alarmed by Trump’s embrace of AI, Big Tech</a></p><p><strong>Even blind fascist squirrels find a nut sometimes.</strong></p><p>SAN reports:</p><p><a href="https://san.com/cc/not-so-secret-xs-new-encrypted-chat-feature-puts-users-at-risk-experts-say/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Not so secret: X’s new encrypted chat feature puts users at risk, experts say</a></p> <p><strong>Cybersecurity/Privacy</strong></p> <p>Signal announces:</p><p><a href="https://signal.org/blog/introducing-secure-backups/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Introducing Signal Secure Backups</a></p><p>La Quadrature reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.laquadrature.net/en/2025/09/04/in-france-the-eternal-return-of-facial-recognition/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">In France, the eternal return of facial recognition</a></p><p>The Register reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/08/drift_breach_entry_salesloft_github/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Drift massive attack traced back to loose Salesloft GitHub account</a></p><p>In crypto bro FAFO news, BleepingComputer reports:</p><p><a href="https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-hijack-npm-packages-with-2-billion-weekly-downloads-in-supply-chain-attack/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Hackers hijack npm packages with 2 billion weekly downloads in supply chain attack</a></p><p><a href="https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ddos-defender-targeted-in-15-bpps-denial-of-service-attack/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">DDoS defender targeted in 1.5 Bpps denial-of-service attack</a></p> <p><strong>Fediverse</strong></p> <p>Connected Places has:</p><p><a href="https://connectedplaces.online/reports/fediverse-report-133/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Fediverse Report – 133</a></p><p>Fedihost looks at:</p><p><a href="https://fedihost.co/blog/slug/podcasting-with-peertube" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Podcasting With PeerTube</a></p><p>PeerTube announces:</p><p><a href="https://joinpeertube.org/news/release-7.3" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">PeerTube v7.3 is out!</a></p><p>Mastodon has an update:</p><p><a href="https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/09/trunk-tidbits-august-2025/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Trunk & Tidbits, August 2025</a></p><p>NodeBB shares a:</p><p><a href="https://community.nodebb.org/topic/18990/progress-update-for-conversational-contexts" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Progress update for Conversational Contexts</a></p><p>A New Social announces:</p><p><a href="https://blog.anew.social/bounce-beta-now-live/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Bounce Beta Now Live!</a></p><p><a href="https://blog.anew.social/launch-dm-notifications/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Launch: Notifications from Unbridged Users</a></p> <p><strong>RSS</strong></p><p>Buttondown remembers:</p><p><a href="https://buttondown.com/blog/rss-vs-ice" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The story of how RSS beat Microsoft</a></p> <p><strong>Other Slightly Federated Social Media</strong></p> <p>Connected Spaces opines:</p><p><a href="https://connectedplaces.online/on-discourse-and-decentralisation/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">On discourse and decentralisation</a></p><p><strong>Personally I view Bluesky as only slightly better than Shitter (drastically fewer c^nts) with a 97.4% chance of becoming enshittified. However, Blacksky has given me a little hope for ATProto at least.</strong></p><p><strong>I would also like to point out 96.525% of people on the Fediverse don’t give a fuck about Bluesky and 99.912% of people on Bluesky don’t give a fuck about the Fediverse.</strong></p><p>TechCrunch reports:</p><p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/08/bluesky-adds-private-bookmarks/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Bluesky adds private bookmarks</a></p><p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/10/bluesky-will-comply-with-age-verification-laws-in-south-dakota-and-wyoming-after-exiting-mississippi/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Bluesky will comply with age-verification laws in South Dakota and Wyoming after exiting Mississippi</a></p> <p><strong>CTAs (aka show us some free love)</strong></p> <ul><li>That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.</li><li><a href="https://friendica.me/profile/friendofsymfony/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Follow me on the Fediverse</a>. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via <a href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/feed/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">RSS</a>. Or even our <a href="https://www.thefulcrum.dev/about/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">future home in 2026</a>, if you want a headstart.</li></ul> <p>Keep fighting!</p> <p class=""><strong><em>Ringleader, Battalion</em></strong><br>Reuben Walker<br> <a href="https://friendica.me/profile/friendofsymfony/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Follow me on the Fediverse</a></p> <p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/activitypub/" target="_blank">#ActivityPub</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/ai/" target="_blank">#AI</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/atproto/" target="_blank">#ATProto</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/autocracy/" target="_blank">#Autocracy</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/big-journalism/" target="_blank">#BigJournalism</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/big-tech/" target="_blank">#BigTech</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/bluesky/" target="_blank">#Bluesky</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/democracy/" target="_blank">#Democracy</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/fascism/" target="_blank">#Fascism</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/fediverse/" target="_blank">#Fediverse</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/mastodon/" target="_blank">#Mastodon</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/node-bb/" target="_blank">#NodeBB</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/peertube/" target="_blank">#Peertube</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/rss/" target="_blank">#RSS</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/signal/" target="_blank">#Signal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/stop-china/" target="_blank">#StopChina</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/stop-israel/" target="_blank">#StopIsrael</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/stop-red-america/" target="_blank">#StopRedAmerica</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/stop-russia/" target="_blank">#StopRussia</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/support-ukraine/" target="_blank">#SupportUkraine</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/technoanarchism/" target="_blank">#TechnoAnarchism</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/tag/technofeudalism/" target="_blank">#TechnoFeudalism</a></p><p><a href="https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=2493" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=24</span><span class="invisible">93</span></a></p>