smallcircles (@smallcircles@social.coop)
đŻ Mission. Support communication and cocreation of all participants in the #ActivityPub ecosystem to help foster healthy growth and #evolution of the fediverse.
âïž Vision. An inclusive #fediverse, collectively evolved, where people can find friends and peers in safe environments, to communicate and engage in rich social activities of all kinds.
đ« Audience. Any fedizen from across the globe who interacts with others on the basis of #Humanity and respect of each otherâs #Freedom and #HumanRights.
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smallcircles (@smallcircles@social.coop)
I necro-posted this #SocialHub topic I started long ago about "Community has no Boundary". We must *design* for community. Just connecting #ActivityPub apps randomly to a microblogging experience is not a way to get there.
Forum software may offer great Community support, but once you federate and connect into a microbloggoverse that whole concept of community is severely impacted.
Design for community starts with discovering Needs and objectives, and going from there.
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destroying-autocracy-august-15-2025 (@destroying-autocracy-august-15-2025@battalion.mobileatom.net)
Destroying Autocracy â August 15, 2025
Welcome to this weekâs âDestroying Autocracyâ.
Itâs 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 mediaâs 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 canât 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 âem.
There is some news about us this week. We are definitely retiring next year and sooner than expected. Once we move to Europe, I donât want to spend 30 hours a week working on Symfony Station and Battalion. Producing short documentaries will be my main hobby.
But, I am willing to spend 10 hours weekly on The Programmerâs Fulcrum. Itâs the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy.
For now its built with Ghost though WordPress is still in the running as a long-term site/newsletter/fediverse account solution. Sorry Drupal CMS you are dead in the water.
In any event, you can sign up now and for 2025 get an email with links and featured articles for each weekâs Symfony Station CommuniquĂ© and Battalion âDestroying Autocracyâ post. And youâll be set with TPF after the fusing. I appreciate all of you.
Featured Item
The Sunday Times has an interview with my hero:
Meredith Whittaker, boss of WhatsApp rival Signal, says the UKâs Investigatory Powers Act could create a weakness that threatens usersâ private data.
Signal boss: âdisturbingâ laws show the UK doesnât understand tech
Fuck Meta, and fuck Whatâs App.
We start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.
The response to Russiaâs War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery
TechCrunch reports:
US government seized $1M from Russian ransomware gang
BleepingComputer reports:
North Korean Kimsuky hackers exposed in alleged data breach
TechCrunch reports:
Australian court finds Apple, Google abused app store market power
The Association for Progressive Communications reports:
Every Door on going from a map user to an open source map creator
Grenoble, France announces:
Access kit Open source software
Commons DB has:
Connecting the Commons: Shared Benefits for Wikimedia Commons and CommonsDB
The Center for Democracy and Technology shares:
Neutral
The Next Web reports:
Opinion: Europe can regulate its way to a better fintech future
Infrequently reports:
How Do Committees Fail To Invent?
Renée DiResta reports:
No Clapping Allowed: A Social Media Free Speech Debate Without the Usual Theater
Stateline reports:
More than half the states have issued AI guidance for schools
Dries Buytaert has:
Funding Open Source like public infrastructure
I disagree with 88.2% of Driesâ AI stance, but heâs 100% correct about this. đ
The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes Back
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Americans, Be Warned: Lessons From Redditâs Chaotic UK Age Verification Rollout
Unfortunately, our fools will follow in their foolsâ footsteps. And btw fuck Reddit.
The Register reports:
Wikimedia Foundation loses first court battle to swerve Online Safety Act regulation
404 Media reports:
Trump Is Launching an AI Search Engine Powered by Perplexity
If there was any doubt that c^nts attract c^nts, now you know. Especially Clownish ones who want to buy Chrome.
Feds Used Local Copâs Password to Do Immigration Surveillance With Flock Cameras
LAPD Eyes âGeoSpyâ, an AI Tool That Can Geolocate Photos in Seconds
Euractiv has:
Palantir is well on its way to conquering Europe
Pariah States
The Register reports:
Russiaâs RomCom among those exploiting a WinRAR 0-day in highly-targeted attacks
TechCrunch reports:
Russian government hackers said to be behind US federal court filing system hack: Report
BleepingComputer reports:
Pro-Russian hackers blamed for water dam sabotage in Norway
Curly COMrades cyberspies hit govt orgs with custom malware
Dark Reading reports:
REvil Actor Accuses Russia of Planning 2021 Kaseya Attack
EuroNews reports:
Israel faces widespread condemnation after Al Jazeera correspondent killed in Gaza
TechPolicy reports:
Artificial Intelligence and the Orchestration of Palestinian Life and Death
Big Media
The Racket reports:
Substackâs extremist ecosystem is flourishing
They are on Beehiiv, which like Ghost is a moral alternative to SubStack.
NiemanLab reports:
Can nonprofit news mix with local TV? A Pennsylvania partnership aims to find out
Local TV news is shit. But, this is interesting.
Seeking Alpha reports:
Companies find new avenues to drive up sessions as Googleâs AI Search tools reduce web traffic
404 Media reports:
Trump Administration Outlines Plan to Throw Out an Agencyâs FOIA Requests En Masse
Big Tech
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
Data Brokers Are Ignoring Privacy Law. We Deserve Better.
Ben Werdmuller reports on:
TechPolicy reports:
In an Age of Information Gatekeeping, Donât Just Google It
Fuck Google.
TechPolicy reports:
âBig Cloudâ is Building Power via Pervasive Investments
TechCrunch reports:
Leaked Meta AI rules show chatbots were allowed to have romantic chats with kids
How to Save the World asks:
Has the Internet Succumbed to the Tragedy of the Commons?
Platformer has:
Three big lessons from the GPT-5 backlash
Ars Technica reports:
LLMsâ âsimulated reasoningâ abilities are a âbrittle mirage,â researchers find
AP reports:
Students have been called to the office â and even arrested â for AI surveillance false alarms
Cybersecurity/Privacy
The Register reports:
The inside story of the Telemessage saga, and how you can view the data
DEF CON hackers plug security holes in US water systems amid tsunami of threats
Deepfake detectors are slowly coming of age, at a time of dire need
Fediverse
Connected Places has:
Hopefully the link is fixed now.
IFTAS says:
The 2025 Fediverse Needs Assessment is Open: Have Your Say
Salvatore Noschese shares:
We Distribute reports:
Big Updates Are Coming to Loops
tchncs has:
We Distribute asks?
Is Meta Scraping the Fediverse for AI?
Did I say fuck Meta?
TechCrunch reports:
Threads now has more than 400 million monthly active users
Fuck Threads too.
Arxiv is:
Exploring Left-Wing Extremism on the Decentralized Web: An Analysis of Lemmygrad.ml
The proper term is Tankies not left-wing. And itâs why you should use Mbin or Piefed.
Paths & Patches has:
Third Spaces in the Fediverse: FediCon thoughts Part II
The Register reports:
Secure chat darling Matrix admits pair of âhigh severityâ protocol flaws need painful fixes
Slightly Federated Social Media
TBD
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- Thatâs 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 headstart.
Keep fighting!
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
#ActivityPub #AI #ATProto #Autocracy #BigJournalism #BigTech #Bluesky #Bonfire #Democracy #Fascism #Fediverse #Lemmy #Loops #Mastodon #Reddit #Signal #StopChina #StopIsrael #StopRedAmerica #StopRussia #SubStack #SupportUkraine #TechnoAnarchism #TechnoFeudalism #Telemessage #WhatsApp #Wikimedia
https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=2395
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ahaldorsen (@ahaldorsen@tutoteket.no)
Jeg har brygget pÄ noen ideer til hvordan et desentralisert alternativ til Facebook-grupper kunne sett ut. LÞsningen er kanskje ikke ActivityPub, men heller et system der hver gruppe har sin egen server.
https://ahaldorsen.no/notater/desentraliserte-grupper/
Kom gjerne med innspill! Vi mÄ vel bare fÄ denne ballen til Ä begynne Ä rulle, og satse pÄ at noen tar insj og faktisk LAGER noe.
#FacebookGrupper #ActivityPub #GruppeKommunikasjon
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display (@display@my-place.social)
I'm going on a #BoostDiet for a while.
What is that?
A focus on posting or replying with my own thoughts, rather than just silently resharing stuff, and to gather contacts whose posts don't just predominantly consist of reshares/boosts.
Why?
As I've settled into Fediverse, I noticed that over time more of my feeds consist of reshares. Those reshares are often:
- content that originated from walled garden social sites
- content that has the fingerprint of forced labor content mills & state actor disinfo operations
- current events panic rather than current events problem solving
Basically the kind of stuff i wanted to leave behind from the legacy corporate social sites. I believe that making content, rather than just resharing existing content, strengthens and protects Fediverse. It decentralizes influence by filling it with more real engagement and a broader content surface, rather than concentrating viewership through vapid reshares of the same prolific content mills.
#BoostDiet #Fediverse #LegacySocial #Mastodon #Pixelfed #Friendica #ActivityPub
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fedizen (@fedizen@mastodon.social)
»What is Bluesky? Everything to know about the X competitor« https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/14/what-is-bluesky-everything-to-know-about-the-x-competitor/?Fedizen.EU #Fedizen #Fediverse #ActivityPub #News
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r (@r@bsky.brid.gy)
Meinem Blog "Kaffeediffusion" kann man jetzt auch hier auf Bluesky folgen: @kaffeediffusion.fschaar.de.ap.brid.gy Möglich machen's das ActivityPub-Plugin fĂŒr #WordPress von Matthias Pfefferle und @ap.brid.gy. Danke fĂŒr die tolle Software! #Fediverse #Mastodon #Bluesky #Blog #ActivityPub
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archives (@archives@wyrm-of-electric-sigils.x10.mx)
The Fediverse is A Locally Moderated Digital Sanctuary
A thing that I am very grateful for when it comes to the fediverse is that it is actually decentralized and locally run. People who run the instances are not a big, faceless corporation, so they have a vested interest in actually moderating their instance. That makes it harder for maladaptive, antisocial, deranged behavior to take hold here because the people who run the instances have a vested interest in addressing that. It creates a cultural filter here.
The moderation on Bluesky combined with all of the vulnerabilities over there is like being trapped in a dumpster while it is on fire. Since there is effectively no moderation and there is a lot of moderation here, antisocial, destructive personalities will go there. Yes, you can still bridge to Bluesky; however, the accounts hosted on Mastodon and the bridges still fall within the local moderation of the instances. I take a look at Bluesky like how I used to look at Twitter via bridges and all I can say is, âOh my fucking god!â
#ActivityPub #Bluesky #fediverse #Mastodon #socialMedia #Twitter
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NoNoBrainer (@NoNoBrainer@social.tchncs.de)
@Chaotica Hubzilla ist da deutlich "mĂ€chtiger" ;) Aber ok, du wirst bestimmt was finden. In Sachen #ActivityPub ist ja glĂŒcklicherweise einiges in Bewegung.
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neues-von-der-kaffeediffusion-block-editor-und-activitypub (@neues-von-der-kaffeediffusion-block-editor-und-activitypub@fschaar.de)
Neues von der Kaffeediffusion: Block-Editor und ActivityPub
In den vergangenen Tagen habe ich meinen Blog auf ein moderneres Theme umgestellt. Und ich habe mir wieder das ActivityPub-Plugin installiert: Jetzt kann man der Kaffeediffusion auch im Fediverse folgen.
https://fschaar.de/neues-von-der-kaffeediffusion-block-editor-und-activitypub/
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emaechler (@emaechler@masto.maechler.cloud)
ActivityPub Plugin fĂŒr WordPress jetzt mit genialer Funktion â sichtbare Reaktionen in BeitrĂ€ge
https://www.chefblogger.me/2025/06/16/activitypub-plugin-fuer-wordpress-jetzt-mit-genialer-funktion-sichtbare-reaktionen-in-beitraege/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social
#activitypub #fediverse
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kkarhan (@kkarhan@infosec.space)
The wounders of #ActivityPub #SelfHosting...
https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/115024511777665652
Ask @fuchsiii about it...
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