“Authoritarianism doesn’t begin with a dictator. It starts when the idea of justice quietly disappears”
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Autocracy
https://thewalrus.ca/this-is-not-my-country/

“Authoritarianism doesn’t begin with a dictator. It starts when the idea of justice quietly disappears”
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Autocracy
https://thewalrus.ca/this-is-not-my-country/
Applicants for a US visa must now either expose every tweet, photo, and friend to the world or risk being denied entry.
This is turning social media into a loyalty test. It forces people to unlock their account or risk being seen as “suspicious.” Authoritarian logic.
As if students from repressive regimes don’t already face enough risk.
HT mstdn @kim_harding
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/07/you-shouldnt-have-make-your-social-media-public-get-visa
Great #film choice by CERN CinéClub last night: Die Welle (The Wave), directed by Dennis Gansel.
It's set in a high school, where a school project about #autocracy spirals out of control. The school serves as a microcosm of German society. The film was made in 2008 but its themes are bang up-to-date.
Eduardo Porter explained why he was leaving the Post: “Jeff Bezos and his new head of Opinion are taking the paper down a path I cannot follow, directed toward the relentless promotion of free markets and personal liberties…. I have no idea to what extent this is driven by Mr. Bezos’ fear of what Donald #Trump could do to his various business interests, most of which are more valuable to him than The Post.”
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-silencing #Trump #autocracy #censorship #media #freespeech #WaPo #JeffBezos
@ben
This was at the first 100 days. #RuthBenGhiat, #Autocracy scholar, analyses the #TrumpAdministration’s rapid shift towards #Authoritarianism. She talks about #Trump’s #PersonalityCult, how #Strongmen portray machismo and the potential for a female strongman figure. She also discusses how autocrats use corruption, violence and propaganda to stay in power, and how #ICE roundups echo the past, resembling a “secret police force”.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat anticipated that #America would reach the tipping point by September.
"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
Destroying Autocracy – July 24, 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
TechDirt writes:
Over the last year or so I’ve seen a disturbing tendency in tech/startup/VC worlds to buy into the neoreactionary view that for startups to be successful they need to get on board the Trump train.
Yes, there are the big name folks who everyone knows about and who didn’t really surprise anyone—Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Elon Musk (pre-fallout)—but the more troubling trend has been watching younger entrepreneurs and VCs listen to their podcasts, read their posts and books, and slowly nod along to the idea that democracy is holding back innovation.
Fascism For First Time Founders
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russia’s War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
BleepingComputer reports:
Ukraine arrests suspected admin of XSS Russian hacking forum
Radio Free Europe reports:
Drone Attacks Even The Odds For Ukrainian Frontline Units
BitDefender reports:
Europol targets Kremlin-backed cybercrime gang NoName057(16)
Bruce Lawson reports:
CMA designates Google and Apple, proposes measures
TechCentral reports:
Italy takes Meta, X and LinkedIn to court over unpaid tax
404 Media reports:
Hacker Plants Computer ‘Wiping’ Commands in Amazon’s AI Coding Agent
Archivists Recreate Pre-Trump CDC Website, Are Hosting It in Europe
The Register reports:
Radio geeks reveal how to access crucial hurricane data after US Department of Defense cut it off
The Register reports:
AI data-suckers would have to ask permission first under new bill
Laptop farmer behind $17M North Korean IT worker scam locked up for 8.5 years
TechPolicy reports:
The Case for Europe’s Backing of Digital Civil Society Groups
Open_Future shares:
Licensing, Levies, and the Limits of Copyright
Open Forum Europe announces:
DarkReading reports:
Stop AI Bot Traffic: Protecting Your Organization’s Website
Speaking of your websites, LocalGhost has:
This page is under construction: a love letter to the personal website
Hamish Campbell has:
The Open Media Network: More Than Just a Tech Project
This is what your site could be a part of.
Neutral
TechPolicy reports:
Brazil Has a Bridge to Defending the Internet
The Financial Times:
UK government seeks way out of clash with US over Apple encryption
When you have three sets of c^nts involved, it’s hard to know who to route for.
TechPolicy opines:
Enforcement of EU’s Tech Laws Should Not Be Traded Away
And they are right.
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
So-called newspaper, The Wall Street Journal reports:
White House Prepares Executive Order Targeting ‘Woke AI’
MIT Technology Review reports:
America’s AI watchdog is losing its bite
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Axon’s Draft One is Designed to Defy Transparency
EuroNews reports:
UK online legislation could threaten Wikipedia volunteer safety, group to argue in court
Pariah States
The Register reports:
UK uncovers novel Microsoft snooping malware, blames and sanctions GRU cyberspies
Silicon Valley engineer admits theft of US missile tech secrets
Four new Android spyware samples linked to Iran’s intel agency
TechCrunch reports:
A surveillance vendor was caught exploiting a new SS7 attack to track people’s phone locations
Hackers exploiting SharePoint zero-day seen targeting government agencies
BleepingComputer reports:
Microsoft links Sharepoint ToolShell attacks to Chinese hackers
Big Media
Today in Tabs reports:
Billionaires Destroyed American News Media On Purpose
Mother Jones reports:
Colbert’s Cancellation Is a Dark Warning
Akademie shares:
Investigating AI datasets: A journalist’s guide
Big Tech
Where’s Your ‘Ed shares:
The Hater’s Guide To The AI Bubble
The Next Web reports:
ChatGPT advises women to ask for lower salaries, study finds
404 Media reports:
A Startup is Selling Data Hacked from Peoples’ Computers to Debt Collectors
Spotify Publishes AI-Generated Songs From Dead Artists Without Permission
Google’s AI Is Destroying Search, the Internet, and Your Brain
Grindr Won’t Let Users Say ‘No Zionists’
EuroNews reports:
Meta ran ads that fundraised for Israeli Defence Forces, analysis shows
Meta won’t sign EU’s AI Code, but who will?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Amazon Ring Cashes in on Techno-Authoritarianism and Mass Surveillance
Ars Technica reports:
Researcher threatens X with lawsuit after falsely linking him to French probe
xAI workers balked over training request to help “give Grok a face,” docs show
TechCrunch reports:
Microsoft says it will no longer use engineers in China for Department of Defense work
For privacy and security, think twice before granting AI access to your personal data
Terror
The Register reports:
IRL Com recruits teens for real-life stabbings, shootings, FBI warns
Cybersecurity/Privacy
TechCrunch reports:
Serial spyware founder Scott Zuckerman wants the FTC to unban him from the surveillance industry
BleepingComputer reports:
CISA and FBI warn of escalating Interlock ransomware attacks
DarkReading reports:
Translating Cyber-Risk for the Boardroom
Fediverse
Connected Places has:
Fediverse Report – #126 July 22, 2025
Bonfire is:
Exploring a Bonfire Geosocial Extension
MarkWrites reflects on:
Mastodon announces:
If you are on the Fediverse please donate to your instance’s maintainers. Especially if they ask nicely.
Aphyr opines:
The Future of Forums is Lies, I Guess
Fediverse favorite, Elena Rossini shares:
The Future is Federated: Year 2
ActivityPub for WordPress has an update:
We Distribute has details:
WordPress-ActivityPub v 7.1.0 Introduces Following Capabilities
Randall Black show us:
How to Install and Set Up Castopod for Your Podcast
TechCrunch reports:
Threads adds improved content performance metrics for creators
Slightly Federated Social Media
The Register reports:
Selling your digital soul to use Bluesky’s DMs isn’t just a bad idea, it’s the law
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
#126 #ActivityPub #AI #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Castopod #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Mastodon #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism #Threads #WordPress
The steps to #autocracy as is currently happening in the once great #USA..
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BSDuTPKKH/?mibextid=wwXIfr
The #State Dept has started screening social media accounts of student visa applicants. #MarcoRubio has also stated that the State Dept would target #visas held by Chinese students, an initiative complicated by #Trump’s announcement that Chinese students are welcome to study in America as part of his trade deal with Beijing.
Since those talks started, the Depts of #Education & #HHS both opened challenges to the #university’s #accreditation, which could someday jeopardize the ability of Harvard #students to receive federal #StudentAid. And #ICE has served subpoenas to Harvard w/sprawling demands that included payroll records, years of disciplinary files & any videos #Harvard had of #InternationalStudents protesting on campus since 2020.
Officials from #Harvard & the #Trump admin have exchanged multiple offers since last month as they have explored a potential deal over the #government’s role in #admissions, #hiring & #curriculum. The details of the negotiations remain unclear as talks continue.
#MarcoRubio gave #Harvard a one-week deadline to produce a lengthy list of #university records related to the #StudentVisa program. He said the department plans to interview university staff associated with the program & also may want to speak with #visa holders.
A Harvard spokesman did not immediately comment. A #State Department spokeswoman declined to comment.
For crying out loud. This is beyond ridiculous now.
#State Dept Opens Investigation Into #Harvard’s Use of #International #Visas
The #Trump admin has continued to pressure the #university despite continuing talks to settle a monthslong dispute over the #FederalGovernment’s role in #HigherEducation.
#law #Constitution #FreeSpeech #AcademicFreedom #RevengePolitics #MafiaState #Dictatorship #Autocracy #Tyranny
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/us/politics/state-department-trump-harvard.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
An important discussion we need to have many times in the next 2 years: What if we don't bounce back from Trump?
#america #governent #news #trump #gop #democrats #autocracy #bigbillionairebill
Federal #judges may identify a candidate on their own, it is authorized by a federal statute, according to Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond.
#AlinaHabba had met with the judges who held the #power to extend her term to try to persuade them of her competence.
But her efforts had largely fallen flat, according to several prominent lawyers in the state with knowledge of the discussions.
#law #judiciary #SeparationOfPowers #Trump #autocracy
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/546
#AlinaHabba, Trump’s former personal lawyer, had no experience as a #prosecutor or in #criminal #law before #Trump appointed her to the temporary post.
Earlier this month, Trump nominated Habba to remain #USattorney permanently, but her confirmation faced headwinds in the US #Senate after #NewJersey’s 2 Democratic senators said she had pursued “frivolous & politically motivated prosecutions” & “did not meet the standard” to become a US attorney.
A similar showdown took place last week in a federal prosecutors’ office in #Albany, #NY. There, after #judges refused to extend the temporary term of John A. Sarcone III, another embattled top prosecutor appointed by #Trump, the #DOJ named him “special attorney” to #PamBondi, the
attorney general.
The appointment gave Sarcone the powers of a #USattorney & is “indefinite,” acc/to a letter from the DOJ’s HR division that was obtained by NYT.
AYFKM?
#Republicans propose naming #KennedyCenter #Opera House after #MelaniaTrump
The #House #Appropriations committee passed an amendment that would rename the theater, months after #Trump took over the performing arts center.
#Autocracy #tyranny #CultOfPersonality
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater/2025/07/22/melania-trump-kennedy-center-opera-house-appropriations-bill/
#PublicRadio stations across the country lost a total of $350M for each of the next 2 years when #Congress narrowly voted to approve #Trump’s clawback of >$1B in funds for #PublicBroadcasting that were already approved for the next two fiscal years.
“It's the short-term step for how we respond right now. We're going to use the rest of the year to plan for how we bridge what's to come in order to support & sustain the network for the future,”Maher said.
#NPR will cut its budget by ~$8M in order to provide that money to member stations most impacted by last week’s rescission of #FederalFunding.
“Our board of directors at NPR made the decision that we would go ahead & reduce NPR's own operating budget by about $8 million in the year ahead in order for us to pass along that as fee relief to the most affected stations," said NPR's President & CEO Katherine Maher.
#law #censorship #FreePress #Trump #dictatorship #autocracy
https://www.tpr.org/news/2025-07-21/npr-to-cut-its-budget-by-8-million-to-provide-relief-to-vulnerable-member-stations