After being classified as a terrorist organization: Autistici/Inventati is history

Calendars of social movements, websites of protest alliances, anti-fascist research: numerous Internet offerings from left-wing groups in Germany will soon no longer be available. The Italian tech collective Autistici/Inventati (AI), which previously offered the blog service “Noblogs” and other online services, had to dissolve on Sunday. The reason: The USA classified the network activists as a “designated global terrorist unit” at the end of August.

In a statement, the collective writes that they are taking this step out of responsibility towards the users. “We cannot endanger the lives of these people and their loved ones and hand them over to autocrats, fascists and authorities who work with extralegal means,” said the collective. Already loose connections could now mean legal consequences. "We stop, but the resistance and the ideas remain. Stay human," writes A/I.

The USA does not itself accuse the activists of having committed acts of terrorism. However, according to the claim, they provided the technical infrastructure for a “left-wing extremist terrorist network”. The authorities based their accusation on the fact that letters claiming responsibility for attacks on infrastructure projects, for example, had been published in the past on websites offered by the collective. This is not about letters of responsibility for deadly violence.

An anonymous spokesman for A/I recently told the Dutch media NRC that the collective always removed illegal content when it was brought to their attention by authorities. There was never a judgment for a breach of legal obligations.

The German online activist Anne Roth is also affected by the closure of around 20,000 blogs. Her blog Annalist has been her “digital home” for 19 years, she wrote on Bluesky – “destroyed by a crazy fascist US government that is turning its country into a dictatorship and attacking political opponents without consideration or the rule of law.” Like all blogs, your Annalist is likely to be shut down in the next few days. The collective announced that it would soon provide instructions for backing up data.

After the classification became known, 30 civil society organizations - including the Chaos Computer Club from Germany - expressed solidarity with Autistici/Inventati in a call by the NGO European Digital Rights. Internet activists criticize the fact that the USA can make such a classification without a court ruling. In doing so, they are directly forcing US banks and companies to end their business relationships. In the case of A/I, PayPal terminated their account within 24 hours of the classification.

The Trump administration has long targeted left-wing groups in Europe. Most recently, the USA declared allegedly rampant left-wing terrorism in Europe to be a key security threat to the USA. Nevertheless, the federal government recently took part in a corresponding propaganda summit in Washington. She even wants to hold a follow-up workshop in Germany soon.