🇸🇰 La notizia di oggi in questa parte d'Europa è il voto sulla mozione di sfiducia al governo slovacco che si terrà nelle prossime ore. Difficile che passi, ma è il sintomo che per Fico le cose non stanno andando proprio benissimo.

A portare al voto di oggi è stato il viaggio a Mosca prima di Natale, in cui il premier slovacco è andato a chiedere aiuto a Putin a fronte dell'imminente stop al transito del gas russo, deciso da Kyiv, attraverso il territorio ucraino.

La mossa di Fico non è piaciuta a Hlas, il partito del presidente Pellegrini, alleato di governo, che teme una deriva antieuropa e anti NATO. Le opposizioni hanno come si suol dire, fiutato il sangue, e annunciato la mozione di sfiducia.

Una decina di giorni fa una partecipata manifestazione, a Bratislava ma anche in altre città della Slovacchia, aveva manifestato aperto dissenso verso le politiche di Fico, più preoccupato ad accattivarsi il benvolere di Putin che a governare il Paese.

A cavalcare questo momento è Michal Šimečka, leader di Slovacchia Progressista, principale partito di opposizione, che secondo i sondaggi oggi sarebbe il primo partito con il 23,9% delle preferenze. (Smer il partito di Fico è al 18%).

Come detto, è difficile che la mozione di oggi passi. I deputati di Hlas non sembrano intenzionati ad appoggiarla, tuttavia le possibilità non stanno a zero.

Formalmente oggi la maggioranza è di un solo deputato (76 su 150), per quanto i tre ribelli ultranazionalisti continuino comunque a votare in linea col governo.

Insomma, nella piccola Slovacchia non ci si annoia mai.

There are a huge number of manufacturers building awesome radio-controlled cars these days. However, sometimes you just have to go your own way. That’s what [snamle] did with this awesome 3D-printed RC car—and the results are impressive.

This build didn’t just aim to build something that looked vaguely car-like and whizzed around on the ground. Instead, it was intended to give [snamle] the opporunity to explore the world of vehicle dynamics—learning about weight distribution, suspension geometry, and so many other factors—and how these all feed into the handling of a vehicle. The RC side of things is all pretty straightforward—transmitter, receiver, servos, motors, and a differential were all off-the-shelf. But the chassis design, the steering, and suspension are all bespoke—designed by [snamle] to create a car with good on-road handling and grip.

It’s a small scale testbed, to be sure. Regardless, there’s no better way to learn about how a vehicle works on a real, physical level—you can’t beat building one with your own two hands and figuring out how it works.

It’s true, we see a lot of 3D printed RC cars around these parts. Many are built with an eye to robotics experimentation or simply as a learning exercise. This one stands out for its focus on handling and performance, and of course that nicely-designed suspension system. Video after the break.

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hackaday.com/2025/01/20/3d-pri…

For better or worse it seems to be human nature to compete with one another, as individuals or teams, rather than experience contentedness while moving to the woods and admiring nature Thoreau-style. On the plus side, competition often results in benefits for all of us, driving down costs for everything from agriculture to medical care to technology. Although perhaps a niche area of competition, the realm of “smallest USB device” seems to have a new champion: this PCB built by [Emma] that’s barely larger than the USB connector pads themselves.

With one side hosting the pads to make contact with a standard USB type-A connector, the other side’s real estate is taken up by a tiny STM32 microcontroller, four phototransistors that can arm or disarm the microcontroller, and a tiny voltage regulator that drops the 5V provided by the USB port to the 3.3V the STM32 needs to operate. This is an impressive amount of computing power for less than three millimeters of vertical space, and can operate as a HID device with a wide variety of possible use cases.

Perhaps the most obvious thing to do with a device like this would be to build a more stealthy version of this handy tool to manage micromanagers, but there are certainly other tasks that a tiny HID can be put to use towards. And, as far as the smallest USB device competition goes, we’d also note that USB-A is not the smallest connector available and, therefore, the competition still has some potential if someone can figure out how to do something similar with an even smaller USB connector.

Thanks to [JohnU] for the tip!

hackaday.com/2025/01/20/smalle…

Once upon a time, lathes were big heavy machines driven by massive AC motors, hewn out of cast iron and sheer will. Today, we have machine tools of all shapes and sizes, many of which are compact and tidy DIY creations. [Maxim Kachurovskiy]’s Modulathe fits the latter description nicely.

The concept behind the project was simple—this was to be a modular, digital lathe that was open-source and readily buildable on a DIY level, without sacrificing usability. To that end, Modulathe is kitted out to process metal, wooden, and plastic parts, so you can fabricate in whatever material is most appropriate for your needs.

It features a 125 mm chuck and an MT5 spindle, and relies on 15 mm linear rails, 12 mm ball screws, and NEMA23 stepper motors. Because its modular, much of the rest of the design is up to you. You can set it up with pretty much any practical bed length—just choose the right ball screw and rail to achieve it. It’s also set up to work however you like—you can manually operate it, or use it for CNC machining tasks instead.

If you want a small lathe that’s customizable and CNC-ready, this might be the project you’re looking for. We’ve featured some other similar projects in this space, too. Do your research, and explore! If you come up with new grand machine tools of your own design, don’t hesitate to let us know!

Thanks to [mip] for the tip!

hackaday.com/2025/01/20/modula…

Una volta, internet era libero.

Era un tempo in cui il web rappresentava la frontiera illimitata del sapere e della comunicazione, un mondo senza confini geografici, dove ogni individuo, a prescindere dalla propria nazionalità, razza o religione, poteva sentirsi “cittadino del mondo“.

Tutte le risorse erano accessibili e i siti web di qualsiasi regione del globo si aprivano con un semplice clic. Era il sogno di Tim Berners Lee. Questo senso di libertà digitale ci univa, rendendoci partecipi di un’era in cui la connessione era sinonimo di progresso e di globalizzazione.

Quando in Italia si cominciò a utilizzare internet in modo massiccio, era l’epoca della caduta del muro di Berlino e della Perestrojka. Ci sentivamo più sicuri, lontani dalle ombre di guerre e divisioni. Sembrava che il mondo stesse abbandonando le barriere di cemento, i nazionalismi e l’intransigenza, aprendo la strada a un futuro di connessione e di libertà condivisa.

Era davvero bello!

Ma la storia ci insegna che nulla di prezioso rimane immutato nel tempo e l’essere umano si rivela capace di compromettere qualsiasi innovazione dirompente e democratizzante. Soprattutto quelle che portano uguaglianza e prosperità diffusa. Purtroppo la sete di potere prevale dietro ogni ideale di progresso condiviso e una nuova Cortina Di Ferro Digitale sta calando sul mondo.

Con l’evolversi dell’economia globale, internet è diventato una parte integrante dell’economia di numerose nazioni. La potenza economica degli Stati Uniti, per decenni il faro del web, ha iniziato a vacillare di fronte all’ascesa di nuove superpotenze tecnologiche. Tra queste, la Cina che si è distinta per la sua rapidissima espansione economica e digitale, imponendosi come leader in settori strategici.

E tutto cambiò…

Il Campo di Battaglia Cibernetico e La Cortina Di Ferro Digitale

Con l’emergere di nuove potenze, lo scontro tra stati si è trasferito dalla fredda terra sul terreno digitale. È nata la guerra cibernetica, una nuova forma di conflitto che non si combatte con le armi convenzionali, ma con il codice sfruttando le reti come campo di battaglia e flotte di esercito di hacker.

Si, gli Hacker di stato, che attaccano le infrastrutture critiche di altri stati, effettuano spionaggio per rubare proprietà intellettuale per migliorare le proprie tecnologie e quindi controspionaggio. La guerra cibernetica è diventata uno strumento geopolitica e di influenza. In risposta a questa realtà, le nazioni hanno iniziato a costruire barriere digitali per proteggere i propri interessi e a limitare l’influenza esterna.

Uno dei primi esempi di questa segregazione digitale è stato il progetto Runet della Russia, una rete internet sovrana progettata per operare indipendentemente dal web globale. L’idea alla base della Runet è quella di isolare il segmento russo da eventuali interferenze straniere, garantendo al Cremlino un controllo totale su ciò che i cittadini possono vedere e fare online.

Internet quindi iniziò ad essere diviso.

A seguito della guerra in Ucraina e delle tensioni geopolitiche, il fenomeno si è esteso ulteriormente. Sanzioni digitali, blocchi di piattaforme occidentali in Russia e la restrizione di TikTok negli Stati Uniti sono solo alcuni esempi di come internet sia diventato frammentato. Non si tratta più di un’unica rete globale, ma di tante reti nazionali che riflettono la politica, l’economia e le paure dei loro governi.

Le VPN: L’Ultima Frontiera della Libertà Digitale

Di fronte a queste restrizioni, le persone hanno trovato il modo di aggirare i muri digitali. Hanno imparato a utilizzare software come le VPN (Virtual Private Network), strumenti che, grazie all’anonimato, consentono di oltrepassare queste barriere e riconnettersi al mondo. Questi strumenti permettono di connettersi a server in altre nazioni, mascherando la propria posizione reale e consentendo l’accesso ai contenuti bloccati all’interno dei loro segmenti di rete.

In Russia, chi desidera accedere a YouTube, Facebook o altre piattaforme vietate si affida alle VPN. Negli Stati Uniti, per poter accedere a TikTok, si inizia a pensare alle VPN dopo la recente legislazione che ha bandito l’app cinese dal 19 gennaio. E non sono solo questi due paesi: le VPN sono diventate essenziali per milioni di utenti in tutto il mondo, rappresentando un’ancora di salvezza contro la censura.

Tecnologie come le VPN e il TOR Browser, un tempo utilizzate prevalentemente da attivisti, dissidenti e giornalisti in cerca di libertà, oggi si stanno diffondendo a macchia d’olio. Questa crescente adozione non è solo un fenomeno tecnologico, ma un chiaro indicatore di come la censura stia rapidamente dilagando su internet. I muri digitali, un tempo eccezioni, stanno diventando la norma, e tutto lascia presagire che nei prossimi anni internet non sarà più una rete unica e condivisa. Al contrario, rischia di frammentarsi sempre di più, assumendo una struttura partizionata che riflette la geografia politica mondiale.

Il TOR Browser, progettato per garantire una navigazione anonima, è sempre più popolare tra chi cerca di superare queste barriere. Tuttavia, il fatto stesso che strumenti di anonimato e bypass siano diventati necessari per riconquistare anche solo un frammento della libertà originaria di internet è il segnale di un allontanamento drammatico dall’ideale iniziale. Internet, nato come spazio senza confini, sta diventando sempre più un mosaico di reti isolate, plasmato da interessi politici, economici e strategici.

Il Sogno Infranto di Tim Berners-Lee

Quando Tim Berners-Lee concepì il World Wide Web, immaginava un mondo unito, dove la conoscenza e la comunicazione avrebbero abbattuto i confini fisici e culturali. Oggi, invece, internet è segregato, prigioniero di muri digitali costruiti sull’intransigenza, il nazionalismo e la paura.

Storicamente, i muri, siano essi di cemento o digitali, non hanno mai portato a soluzioni durature. Hanno diviso, alimentato l’odio e impedito la cooperazione necessaria per affrontare le sfide globali. La frammentazione del web sta riflettendo un mondo incapace di dialogare, di condividere risorse e di lavorare insieme per il bene comune.

La geopolitica delle VPN racconta una triste storia già conosciuta: quella di un’umanità che, incapace di trovare nuovi equilibri, preferisce costruire nuovi muri anziché superare gli ostacoli costruendo ponti. Ma questi muri, come tutti quelli eretti nel corso della storia, sono destinati a essere abbattuti, spesso al costo di sofferenza, paura e caos. Nell’immediato, costruirli è conveniente senza dubbio, una soluzione rapida per proteggere interessi e consolidare potere. Tuttavia, il peso delle conseguenze viene lasciato sulle spalle delle generazioni future, come se il domani e il futuro dei nostri figli fosse un problema da affrontare in un altro momento.

Finché esisteranno strumenti come le VPN e TOR, il sogno di un internet libero e globale non sarà completamente perduto. Tuttavia, la vera sfida rimane per i potenti del pianeta sempre la stessa: imparare a convivere in un mondo affollato ed interconnesso, superando le divisioni per costruire un futuro migliore e prospero per tutti. Nessuno escluso.

L'articolo Cortina di Ferro Digitale: Come Le Sanzioni e i Muri Digitali Stanno Spaccando Nuovamente il Mondo proviene da il blog della sicurezza informatica.

Civati-Druetti (Possibile): Soddisfazione per il giudizio della Corte sul referendum cittadinanza e sul Jobs Act.

“C’è soddisfazione per il giudizio della Corte sul referendum cittadinanza, dopo la verifica sull’ammissibilità del quesito”. Lo dichiarano Giuseppe Civati e Francesca Druetti, fondatore e segretaria di Possibile, partito promotore del quesito insieme a +Europa, Psi, Radicali, Rifondazione Comunista e le associazioni di italiane e italiani senza cittadinanza.

“Con il parere positivo della Corte — continuano Civati e Druetti — la parola ora torna a cittadine e cittadini, che già durante la campagna di raccolta firme hanno partecipato con entusiasmo, speranza, rabbia. Adesso inizia un percorso, intenso e affascinante, di partecipazione democratica su un tema che ci sta molto a cuore, senza dimenticare i referendum sul lavoro, che abbiamo attivamente sostenuto e che vanno nella direzione di quelli che avevamo promosso nel 2015, la prima mobilitazione del nostro partito quando è stato fondato.”

C’è una grande opportunità davanti a noi per migliorare il Paese su questioni fondamentali per la vita delle persone, su cui sono stati registrati passi indietro negli ultimi anni o un dibattito stantio che ha lasciato invariata una situazione che ha lasciato milioni di persone senza un diritto basilare. Lavoreremo con la nostra comunità perché il nostro Paese la colga fino in fondo.”

“Rimane la questione dell’autonomia differenziata, una legge sbagliata a cui ci opponiamo in ogni sua forma, e sulla cui abrogazione la cittadinanza non sarà chiamata a esprimersi. Continueremo a contrastare le norme che minacciano l’unità del paese e aumentano le diseguaglianze territoriali e tra le persone, come abbiamo sempre fatto”.

L'articolo Civati-Druetti: Soddisfazione per il giudizio della Corte sul referendum cittadinanza e sul Jobs Act proviene da Possibile.

You know (or maybe you didn’t), I get super excited when y’all use the links at the bottom of this round-up we call Keebin’ to communicate with your old pal Kristina about your various labors of love. So just remember that.

Case in point: I was typing up this very issue when I heard from [Jay Crutti] and [Marcel Erz]. Both are out there making replacement keyboards for TRS-80s — [Jay] for Models 3 and 4, and [Marcel] for the Model 1. Oooh, I said to myself. This is going at the top.

A TRS-80 Model 4. Image by [Jay Crutti] via JayCrutti.comRelevant tangent time: I remember in the 90s having a pile of computers in my parents’ basement of various vintages, a TRS-80 Model 2 among them. (Did I ever tell you about the time I got pulled over for speeding with a bunch of different computers in the backseat? I was like no, officer, first of all, those are old machines that no one would really want, and I swear I didn’t steal them.)

I think the TRS-80 is probably the one I miss the most. If I still had it, you can bet I would be using [Jay] and [Marcel]’s work to build my own replacement keyboard, which the 40-year-old machine would likely need at this point if the Model 4 is any indication with its failing keyboard contacts.

To create the replacements, [Jay] used Keyboard Layout Editor (KLE), Plate & Case Builder, and EasyEDA. Using the schematic from the maintenance manual, he matched the row/column wiring of the original matrix with Cherry MX footprints. Be sure to check out [Jay]’s site for a link to the project files, or to purchase parts or an assembled keyboard. On the hunt for TRS-80 parts in general? Look no further than [Marcel]’s site.

Keyboards On the Molekula Level

While some focus aesthetically on keyboards, or on comfort, [zzeneg] is simultaneously rocking both and coming up with new keyboard frameworks. Take the open-source Molekula for example.

Image by [zzeneg] via reddit[zzeneg] really digs modular keyboards and especially the VIK standard for interfacing data between PCBs, which calls for an FPC 12-pin, 0.5 mm pitch connector.

The big idea with molekula and future keyboards is to have dumb sides and a smart central module that does the braining and the hosting. Additionally, [zzeneg]’s plan is to keep the central PCBs’ footprint under 100 mm² in order to make it more affordable for experimentation. You can see this in the third photo of the gallery.

There are a couple of cool things going on in addition to the modularity — the switch footprints cover pretty much anything you’d want to use, and [zzeneg] left the hot swap sockets exposed around back. This thing is just cool through and through.

Via reddit

The Centerfold: Alice, 1989 Style

Image by [Brooklick] via redditI wouldn’t mind being chained to [Brooklick]’s desk for a while. Would you? What I can tell you is that this is an Alice keyboard, and that those are 1989 keycaps and switches. Don’t get too excited unless you also have an Alice; according to [Brooklick], the Space bars are crap, although they do look good.

Do you rock a sweet set of peripherals on a screamin’ desk pad? Send me a picture along with your handle and all the gory details, and you could be featured here!

Historical Clackers: the Chicago No. 3

At first glance, the Chicago No. 3 looks a bit like a car that’s missing a bumper. But then you look again and see it sitting on round feet firmly planted behind the frame-less keyboard and think, it might be kind of nice to type on this one. And without that extra iron, it’s probably pretty light and portable, too.
Image via The Antikey Chop
Given all of that, the No. 3 does have an interesting WERTY layout, with the ‘Q’ appearing on the bottom row. So did the model that sold concurrently, the No. 1 (which did have a frame around the keyboard). The base of the No. 3 was slotted, which made it even lighter to carry around.

Additionally, the two models had different ribbon mechanisms. The No. 3 used a 3/8″ ribbon that fed through those vertically-oriented spools, which is something I haven’t seen before. The No. 3 had two additional keys — a Backspace and a Margin Release. Whereas the No. 1 cost $35, the No. 3 went for $50 in early 1900s money (about $1,600 today).

Functionally speaking, the two were quite similar. In addition to both having a WERTY keyboard, they each used a typesleeve — a cylindrical component that can be swapped out, much like the IBM Selectric’s golf ball type element — and a hammer to print. Interestingly enough, in order to use either model, the typist had to turn the safety off by pulling a “hammer extension arm” on the left side before typing. Hopefully, nothing terrible happened if you forgot to do this.

And What Do We Think of Hardware Layers?

Madden was here. Image via AutoKeybo
Wow. This might actually be a good use of image recognition; I am undecided. It certainly looks cool at first blush, anyway. And I hope it makes a little zhoop! sound in the process of working.

Okay, so, imagine you’re sitting there at your split keyboard and need to mouse or enter some digits real fast. With this number, all you have to do is stretch out your fingers for a second and whoosh — the QWERTY retracts, and in its place comes a 10-key on the left and a mouse on the right.

That’s the power of AutoKeybo. Here, watch the demo video. It’s only nine seconds long.

youtube.com/embed/GXim-IJ4EXc?…

So, let’s start with the obvious. This is supposed to be an ergonomic keyboard, given that you don’t have to move your hand over to mouse. But you do have to rest your arms on a big plastic box that’s two keyboards tall, and that probably isn’t good for you. But it is split, and the sides are angled toward one another, so there’s that.

The cool part is that the trays move independently, so you just stretch out whichever hand is hiding what you need to use real quick. It would be nice to access the mouse without losing the left half of the keyboard. Don’t ask me why, it just would. Just so you wouldn’t have to move both hands.

Okay, so how does it work already? Basically, there’s a built-in camera that detects the splaying of your fingers to trigger the switch. It has a Raspberry Pi 5 doing all of the crunching, which of course you could use as a standalone computer. Here’s a report from someone else who tried it out at CES.

Got a hot tip that has like, anything to do with keyboards? Help me out by sending in a link or two. Don’t want all the Hackaday scribes to see it? Feel free to email me directly.

hackaday.com/2025/01/20/keebin…

With Donald Trump’s inauguration today, journalists and whistleblowers can expect four more years of legal attacks, threats, smears, bullying, and other abuses we haven’t even thought of yet — all intended to stop them from reporting the news.

While no one can predict exactly what the next four years have in store, here are three press freedom issues that we’ll be following closely at Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF).

Increased leaks investigations

Trump’s first term was marked by a surge in leaks investigations. Unnamed sources close to his incoming administration (ironic, isn’t it?) have told reporters to expect even more of the same during his second term.

That means whistleblowers or anyone even suspected of unauthorized leaking could face invasive investigations, such as surveillance of their movements and activities, and broad legal demands for their electronic records. Those who are caught and prosecuted may also be punished harshly, including with long prison sentences.

The Department of Justice could also issue subpoenas or other legal demands to journalists or their tech providers seeking the identities of reporters’ sources, as it did during Trump’s first term. Journalists who refuse to comply with demands to name their confidential sources could be fined or jailed — Trump has been clear that he would like to see just that.

Unfortunately, a law that would have prohibited that, the PRESS Act, failed last Congress, thanks to Democrats’ stalling and Sen. Tom Cotton’s lying. We’ll continue to press Congress to pass a federal law that would protect investigative reporting, during the Trump years and beyond, by prohibiting jailing journalists for refusing to burn their sources. Congress must also reform the Espionage Act — a law that’s been used by both Democrats and Republicans to prosecute those who leak classified information to the press — to ensure it applies only to spying, not whistleblowing.

FPF will also continue to oppose attempts to undermine secure communication tools such as end-to-end encryption, which will become increasingly important in the absence of strong legal protections for journalist-source confidentiality. Journalists and sources should familiarize themselves with best practices for digital security. Sources should brush up on methods for lessening their own risk and may want to consider using SecureDrop and a Tor Browser to share documents or information anonymously.

Criminal prosecutions of journalists

Journalists could be jailed not only for refusing to reveal their sources but also for publishing information that the Trump administration or oligarchs in its orbit don’t want to be made public.

Thanks in no small part to the Biden administration’s decision to continue Trump’s prosecution of WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange, the Trump administration will have an easier time abusing the Espionage Act to prosecute journalists who publish national defense information. Assange pleaded guilty to violating Section 793(g) of the act last June, the first time in U.S. history a publisher has been convicted under the law.

It’s a short legal leap from prosecuting Assange to prosecuting national security reporters at traditional news outlets. Assange’s guilty plea was based on conduct that journalists engage in every day: soliciting classified information from the public, encouraging a source to provide him with classified information, and publishing that information.

It’s a short legal leap from prosecuting Assange to prosecuting national security reporters at traditional news outlets.

A journalist charged under the Espionage Act for publishing newsworthy information will have a strong First Amendment defense. But we shouldn’t rely on courts to make the right call when it comes to protecting press freedom against spurious national security claims. Congress must reform the Espionage Act not only to protect whistleblowers but also ensure that it can’t be used against journalists.

Unfortunately, the Espionage Act isn’t the only threat. Federal prosecutors could use other criminal laws against journalists over the next four years. Computer hacking laws like the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, in particular, have already been abused to go after digital journalists like Florida journalist Tim Burke.

With the possibility of increased protests during the Trump administration, we may also see journalists covering protests arrested for crimes like trespassing. While the DOJ recently issued important guidance and recommendations about the First Amendment protections for journalists covering protests, there’s no guarantee it will continue to follow them under Trump.

FPF will continue to speak out against the criminal prosecution of journalists for doing their jobs and push to ensure that they receive full First Amendment protections.

Abuse of government surveillance against the press

We’re also concerned about increased government surveillance of the press over the next four years, especially through tech providers.

The government already has the power to issue legal orders requiring a tech company to turn over a journalist’s digital records, and it can do so in secret by gagging the company. DOJ guidelines limit the circumstances under which the government can issue those legal demands, but the next DOJ could simply ignore or repeal them.

If the government can’t get a legal order for tech company data, it can often buy it. No law prevents the FBI and intelligence agencies from buying location or other sensitive data about Americans from data brokers that they usually couldn’t get without a warrant. And they’re doing exactly that.

While there’s a real risk of abuse of these spying powers over the next four years, there’s also a possibility of reigning them in.

The Trump administration will also have expanded powers under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which Congress reauthorized and broadened last year to expand the types of entities that can be forced to help the U.S. spy. While some lawmakers promised a later “fix” to that part of the law, that fix has never come. Section 702 is often sold as a purely foreign surveillance law targeting terrorists and drug traffickers, but it’s also been used to spy on Americans, including journalists, without a warrant.

While there’s a real risk of abuse of these spying powers over the next four years, there’s also a possibility of reigning them in. Some of the most vocal critics of government surveillance in recent years have been Republican lawmakers aligned with Trump, who called on the last Congress to kill FISA. Speaker Mike Johnson recently ousted a pro-FISA representative, Mike Turner, from his chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee.

FISA will be up for reauthorization again during Trump’s second term. MAGA skepticism toward government surveillance may create opportunities to pass FISA reform and other bipartisan laws limiting government spying, like the Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act.

At the same time, some Trump appointees have been singing a different tune more recently and embracing government spying powers. Republicans may very well find that they enjoy vast spying powers when they’re the ones who control them, just like the Democrats did. In that case, FPF will be there to remind them that most Americans don’t want to live in a surveillance state.

Also read our article on Biden's three biggest press freedom failures.

freedom.press/issues/three-pre…

When it comes to press freedom, last week was a fitting close to President Joe Biden’s term. On Wednesday, he emphasized the importance of the free press in his farewell address. On Thursday, two journalists who demanded answers about the Israel-Gaza war were removed — one forcibly — from his secretary of state’s news conference. On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the TikTok ban he supported despite knowing full well the “data privacy” concerns lawmakers cited were a pretext for censorship.

With “friends” of press freedom like Biden, who needs enemies? The president who loved to proclaim that “journalism is not a crime” ignored warnings from press freedom advocates and handed his proudly anti-press successor a road map to criminalize it.

Here are the three themes that will define Biden’s press freedom legacy.

Anti-press prosecutions

Biden ignored warning after warning about the dangers of prosecuting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under the Espionage Act for actions investigative journalists take every day — talking to sources, obtaining secret documents, and publishing them. Nevertheless, he persisted — extracting a guilty plea from Assange in exchange for his freedom, normalizing prosecutions of routine newsgathering.

Biden officials might have taken issue with Assange’s methods or believed he wasn’t a “journalist,” but it doesn’t matter — there is nothing in the Espionage Act that would restrict Trump from employing identical legal theories against any publisher of government secrets he dislikes, including conventional journalists.

And then there’s the prosecution of Florida journalist Tim Burke under computer crime laws. That did Trump a huge favor because the Espionage Act only applies to government secrets. But, as Biden knows, Trump also has oligarchs to protect! The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, under the interpretation of Biden’s Department of Justice, will help him do so by criminalizing journalists’ use of the internet to find secrets the powerful don’t want published — even if the powerful accidentally post them on publicly available websites.

Not only that, the government, according to Biden’s prosecutors, can label reporting materials like notes and stories in progress as contraband and permanently seize them, stopping journalists’ stories in their tracks. Only Biden knows if he finally regrets arming Trump with this impressive anti-press arsenal, but that won’t help Trump’s victims.

Sacrificing the Constitution for ‘national security’

Justice Hugo Black famously wrote in the Pentagon Papers case that “the word ‘security’ is a broad, vague generality whose contours should not be invoked to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment.” Black’s probably rolling over in his grave.

It is undisputed that the purported national security concerns underlying the TikTok ban are entirely hypothetical. There is no evidence China is using TikTok to spy on Americans. And why would it, when, absent a comprehensive data privacy law, the information it could conceivably get from TikTok is widely available from plenty of other sources? But there is evidence that lawmakers’ real motivation for the ban was to stop young people from using TikTok to criticize the Israel-Gaza war.

President Joe Biden greets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a fist bump in 2022. Later that year Biden's administration declared Salman immune from liability for his suspected role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace via AP Photo

And yet, the Supreme Court, at the Biden administration’s urging, authorized censorship of not just one newspaper but a whole platform that millions of Americans, including journalists, use to communicate. Biden seems to regret his political stunt actually becoming law, promising that the ban won’t go into effect immediately. And Trump, who once supported the ban, now opposes it.

That means it’s entirely possible that, at the end of the day, all that will come out of this is a Supreme Court ruling weakening the First Amendment just in time for Trump’s return. Well done, Joe.

Incidentally, the Supreme Court’s TikTok opinion cited China’s law requiring companies from there (like TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance) to cooperate with Chinese surveillance. But it didn’t mention that the U.S. passed a law last year, with Biden’s full support, letting our own government force companies to secretly spy for it.

Biden again ignored repeated warnings that the law could easily be abused by Trump and whoever comes after him to spy on journalists. For someone so critical of Chinese surveillance and censorship, Biden sure likes copying directly from their playbook.

Turning a blind eye to Gaza

We don’t mean to put journalists on a pedestal. Every civilian death in the Israel-Gaza war is tragic, and press freedom violations are far from the only wrongs by its ally that the Biden administration ignored.

That said, the world relies on journalists for credible information about the war, and Israel has killed a record number of reporters, many of them in seemingly targeted attacks. It has refused to allow international outlets to enter Gaza and retaliated against those that are already there. Journalists report death threats followed by bombs.

The U.S. would surely be quick to condemn the same conduct by an adversary, but in Israel’s case, it expresses “concern” and spews other meaningless rhetoric while doing absolutely nothing to hold Israel accountable for its use of U.S. weapons and funds to attack the press. It’s no wonder that journalists, frustrated with all the doublespeak, breach decorum at news conferences.

Yes, Biden’s done some good things for the press. His DOJ passed guidelines that limited subpoenas and surveillance of journalists. Trump will likely repeal those — an outcome Biden could’ve prevented by advocating for the PRESS Act, the bipartisan bill to protect journalist-source confidentiality that he never vocally supported. The Biden DOJ also warned against arresting journalists at protests, including after they're dispersed.

Biden's administration helped free journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva from Russia, where they were held on sham charges. There were other highlights, like restrictions on spyware (which Trump may also reverse).

But those accomplishments pale in comparison to his failures. He has not only damaged the press at home, he’s undermined the U.S. standing to oppose attacks on the press abroad.

We know things will likely get worse under Trump, but it’ll take a lot to make us miss Biden and his empty platitudes.

Also read our article on three threats to press freedom we're watching during Trump's second term.

freedom.press/issues/bidens-pr…

Over 25 civil society organisations and experts actively following the implementation of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act are urging the European Commission’s AI Office to ensure that the upcoming Commission guidelines clarify fundamental rights as the central guiding basis to enable meaningful AI Act enforcement. They also note note the various shortcomings of the Commission’s consultation process.

The post European Commission guidelines on the AI Act implementation must center human rights and justice appeared first on European Digital Rights (EDRi).

Since Musk’s acquisition of X in October 2022, we have been working towards an exit strategy. Recent developments and Musk becoming part of the second Trump administration have contributed to a unique and toxic platform power-grab, which has accelerated our X-it timeline. EDRi is joining many other organisations and people in leaving X by the end of January 2025. On 20 January, we will host an important X Spaces conversation to encourage our followers to join Mastodon.

The post Why EDRi is leaving X and where to find us appeared first on European Digital Rights (EDRi).

I titoli di stato non vengono conteggiati nel calcolo dell’ISEE, un vantaggio che sembra fatto su misura per i risparmiatori. Ma cosa si cela dietro questa scelta?

Da un lato, è un chiaro incentivo per finanziare il debito pubblico spingendo i cittadini a investire direttamente nello Stato. Dall’altro, potrebbe indurre molti a concentrare i propri risparmi in un’unica direzione, riducendo la diversificazione.

È davvero una grande opportunità per i risparmiatori o una strategia per esigenze di bilancio statale? Voi cosa ne pensate?