As we close this newspaper, we learn that the Autistici/Inventati Collective, due to the serious attack it has received, has decided to close its operations, also to protect those who use the collective's services. We are publishing an initial article on the matter, with further updates expected in future issues. --- In the meantime, to learn more, visit https://keepitfree.ai/it/ --- As anarchists, we have always known that laws are fictions and that the only truly dominant law within societies governed by the State-Capital duo is the law of the jungle, the law of the strongest. This isn't always obvious because it's hidden by intricate regulatory systems that sometimes leave room for exceptions, loopholes, and reformist illusions. In other cases, however, the evidence is so clear that only those in bad faith or intellectually dishonest can ignore it.
A recent example of this is the scandal that broke out at the end of August, involving, on the one hand, the US government and, on the other, "Autistici/Inventati" (A/I), a small Italian association whose aim is to provide digital communication tools to individuals and groups who identify with the principles of anti-fascism, anti-racism, anti-sexism, anti-capitalism, and so on. A name that is probably not entirely unfamiliar to the comrades reading these pages. An association that last March celebrated 25 years of uninterrupted operation.
Despite its importance, the story hasn't yet received the coverage it deserves, at least not compared to the jokes that often saturate the news, especially during the summer. Therefore, we'll briefly summarize it.
On August 26, an "Executive Order" was published online, a provision that bears no resemblance to our own and could be compared to a sort of "Legislative Decree." In this document, the US Administration labeled A/I as an organization that supports global terrorism and subjected it to sanctions, primarily financial ones. In effect, it simultaneously leveled an accusation and imposed a sentence.
The Order issued prohibits any person or entity subject to US law from having any kind of relationship with the association. Violators risk hefty fines and/or imprisonment. It should be clarified that this type of measure has no legal effect outside the US and could therefore be considered a bizarre American quirk. Except that the Order clearly states that it could also affect anyone in any other country who provides any kind of support, not just financial, to A/I. These are what, with a questionable sense of humor, they call "secondary consequences" (sic!).
Clearly, this measure, rather than targeting a small collective based in Italy, is aimed at groups that oppose US government policy and use A/I services. There may be some, but there are no reliable numbers; probably a couple of hundred, both active and inactive.
Just 48 hours after the announcement, the first blow fell: the autistici.org website was blocked. This negatively impacted the entire service structure provided by the A/I Collective, starting with email addresses such as @autistici.org. The company managing the domains in question, which is, of course, American, is undoubtedly responsible for this block. This measure was applied automatically, without any prior notice or opportunity to challenge it.
Immediately afterward, someone launched a cyberattack on the noblogs.org platform, exploiting a vulnerability in the software that manages it. This attack could have occurred a week or a month earlier, but it occurred immediately after the US government's decision. A coincidence, you might say. Fortunately, the damage to individual blogs was minimal, and the attackers were unable to steal sensitive data, precisely because one of the key features of those services is that they do not request such data.
Finally, to top things off, "Banca Etica" has frozen the Association's account, which risks being permanently closed because the bank fears the "secondary consequences" mentioned above.
It should be noted that the attacked association is part of the so-called "third sector," meaning it is officially recognized by Italian law and also receives the 5 per thousand taxpayers earn from their taxes, which they can donate to an organization of their choice. It should be noted that A/I has no financial or legal issues pending in Italy and has never been subject to any criminal or administrative sanctions.
Instead, he is enormously guilty, at least in the eyes of reactionaries around the world, of supporting, with his work, an idea of the Internet completely alien to commercial logic. This has become so dangerous in 2026 that it has earned him the accusation of supporting global terrorism, a galaxy that ranges from anarchist bombers to armed Islamism, including the PKK.
The "evidence" published on official websites to support this accusation-conviction could, given its wording, be the product of one of the many Artificial Intelligence programs, as it is riddled with inaccuracies and gross errors. The most egregious of these is attributing A/I a nonexistent email address, one of those things experts call "hallucinations" that AIs suffer from.
As if all of the above weren't enough, once the news reached Italy, it immediately fell prey to the ravenous horde of right-wing journalism, which perhaps decided to use it to replace the now-decaying summer hit "Report." A press campaign was then launched, mixing public truths, blatant lies, insinuations, suggestions, fantasies, and all the rest of the paraphernalia usually employed to discredit an opponent. But in Italy, the real target isn't a small "extremist" group, whose story is exploited only for profit, but the most prominent figures of the so-called opposition to the government. They are bluntly accused of some sort of collusion with an entity the US Administration considers terrorist. This would be truly laughable, considering that A/I certainly can't be mistaken for a party-affiliated structure, especially the Democratic Party.
The fuss raised by the pro-government press has even led to the submission of several questions to both the Italian Parliament and the European Union Parliament, which will be discussed in the coming days.
Fortunately, alongside the sad work of the aforementioned individuals, a significant outpouring of solidarity has also arrived, both from Italy and abroad. This has come primarily from those who have used or continue to use the services provided by A/I, but even from those who have long been critical of it. Statements of solidarity have arrived from groups, unions, collectives, and well-known figures and organizations in the IT world.
As we write, there are many more people than those who make up the Collective, who are working in collaboration with other solidarity groups, not only Italian ones, to build and develop an international support campaign to oppose the unbearable arrogance of the American government.
For now, despite the obvious disproportion between the forces on the ground, the defenders have declared that they have no intention of giving up, at least for as long as they can hold out. And for this reason, every additional day of resistance will be a victory. Even if the good guys are unlikely to win this war.
We'll stop here, both because the issue is still developing and because there's still much to write about. We invite anyone interested to follow the extensive information already produced in these first two weeks, which can be found online at keepitfree.ai.
However, some general political considerations must be made regardless of how this story develops.
The affair confirms that the arrogance of those in power knows no bounds, whether they're dressed as a charlatan who changes the names of lakes and rivers or a character straight out of an old spy movie.
The measure taken against A/I lacks a valid international legal basis, making it paradoxically very difficult to challenge. Despite this, the indictment and conviction have had concrete effects, not only within the US legal system (which would be expected) but also worldwide, and this is only due to the fact that the US controls numerous resources-in various sectors-that extend their influence to other countries as well. It is, in other words, a pure act of force.
This is certainly not new but only one aspect of Washington's current policy which leads to the kidnapping of an unpopular President at night and the bombing of a distant territory because he considers his government a threat.
The weight of the international situation, which is certainly not calm, is also evident in a relatively marginal affair like this.
Some of those who spoke on the topic argued that such cases would no longer be possible if individual countries or the European Union equipped themselves with legislative and technical tools to ensure national (or European) "sovereignty" in the fields of electronic communications and finance. In reality, some laws exist, but they are weak in the face of the Empire's overwhelming power. Aside from the repeated use of the term "sovereignty," which now indiscriminately unites all political forces, perhaps it would also be possible to make the EU more independent from the US by preventing the latter from dictating the law in some of the critical sectors of information technology and finance.
However, we prefer to imagine a struggle, among the many to be fought, to give the global Internet real autonomy from states and governments, an Internet that does not yet exist, in which a case like the one in question would never have been possible.
Pepsy
https://umanitanova.org/attacco-ad-autistici-inventati-un-pugno-di-ribelli-contro-limpero/
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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