FSNN | Free Speech News Network https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html Homepage The CHATBOT Act Forces One Parenting Model On Every Family Law Firm Sues Ex-Client for Libel, Judge Lays Out Firm Owner’s Disciplinary Record Tether clears $1.5 billion in profit as its safety cushion shrinks by half Bybit adds tokenized Nvidia, Apple, Tesla stocks as loan collateral XDC AI and the Rise of Agentic Finance: When AI Agents Learn to Pay Federal Judges Chastise Trump’s Justice Department For “Unlawful,” “Unethical” And “Unseemly” Conduct What Mamdani Can Learn From Hugo Chávez’s Government-Run Grocery Store Debacle The good and the bad of perps, according to crypto traders Tether earns $1.5B in Q2 as US Treasury holdings fuel profits Tether Reports $1.5B Q2 Profit as USDT Supply Grows, Gold Holdings Rise Grand Jury Witness: Reflecting Pool Was Already Damaged Before Arrested Man Touched It Rand Paul’s Biosimilar Drug Bill Could Cut Costs, Speed Patient Access Pentagon seeks extraordinary new power to evade transparency Coldcard’s $38 million (so far) exploit shakes faith in self-custody, may push investors to ETFs Ex-FTX users report funds being released in $900M distribution round US Treasury Sanctions Iranian Firms Taking Bitcoin for Hormuz Passage The Trump Administration Just Named a Front-Runner in the Robotaxi Race Quantum computing nears commercial breakthrough, IBM CEO says Bitcoin Slumps into July Close as Analysts Warn of Bear-Market Repeat Circle Lands New York Trust Charter as Stablecoin Issuer Expands Regulatory Footprint China Helps Iran STS Digital CEO sees three major headwinds for crypto markets ECB Says Digital Euro App to Exceed EU Accessibility Standards AI Company Sues Town for Trying to Block Data Center Near National Park EFF Guide to Recording Law Enforcement In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, a Web Slinging Superhero Grows Up Government Playing a Dangerous Game With Drone Cybersecurity Circle secures New York trust charter as crypto regulatory push accelerates Circle receives New York trust charter for subsidiary Claude Hacked Three Companies in Internal Testing: Anthropic Trump FCC Hilariously Bungles Chinese ‘Drone Ban’ In Widow’s Bay, the Real Monster Is Utilitarianism Indiana news media coalition raises concerns about delays in state public access office RWA perps will outpace tokenization BIS Project Agorá settles $1 million in tokenized cross-border payment trials Morning Minute: Coinbase Posts Surprise Loss as Crypto Trading Dries Up Cooking Up A Blue Plate Special Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Photo: Jay Galvin/CC BY 2.0 It was game, set and match for Bahraini dissidents Saeed Shehabi and Moosa Mohammed in their case against the Kingdom of Bahrain this week. The UK’s Supreme Court ruled in their favour, rejecting an appeal from Bahrain, which was claiming sovereign immunity from allegations it used spyware to infiltrate the computers of the pair in the UK back in 2011. We’ve been following the case and it’s hard to downplay this victory both for the men and for the broader ecosystem. The Kingdom had argued that section 5 of the State Immunity Act 1978, which creates an exemption to the act in the event of personal injuries and damage to property, was being misinterpreted and unduly broadened in this case. It said that a proper reading of the Act would afford immunity to states in cases where the actors or some of the acts causing personal injury were located outside the UK. But section 5 was enacted long before sophisticated spyware existed. The Supreme Court judges therefore rejected these arguments, stating that: “Modern technology enables acts of surveillance to be carried out in the UK remotely. Even if carried out by foreign state actors located outside the UK, such acts involve an infringement of UK territorial sovereignty.” Leigh Day, the law firm representing Shehabi and Mohammed, said that “the Supreme Court judgment has now settled the scope of section 5 of the State Immunity Act 1978. A foreign state cannot rely on state immunity to escape accountability for personal injury caused by acts within the UK, even where other causative acts take place abroad and the state’s agents are not present in this country. The court has recognised that a rigid distinction between the location of an act and its effects is artificial and unprincipled.” Shehabi said afterwards that “this is not just a victory for us, but for everyone targeted by authoritarian states beyond their own borders.” He’s right. We’ve been bleating on about transnational repression for years now because it’s prolific and getting worse. And when a dissident is attacked abroad, spyware is often a feature. This ruling makes clear that states can now be held officially accountable. As Shehabi also said after: “The hardest part of being targeted by alleged state-sponsored hacking is the feeling that nowhere is safe”. The UK arguably becomes a touch safer now. Mohammed said that the “victory changes the balance of power”. He spoke about being tortured by the Bahraini regime since he was a teenager and pursued across borders. “Today, the tables have turned,” he continued. “I am no longer the one being chased. I am chasing justice. I am chasing accountability. The era of abusing victims while hiding behind state immunity is over.” The UK has earned itself a reputation as a hunting ground for authoritarian regimes, and that’s partly because our response to counter it has been woeful. In some instances, police have told victims to keep a lower profile and that their cases are too hard to tackle because the assailants are overseas. So, it’s good to now have legal clarity on the question of proximity. Being abroad doesn’t grant you a get-out-of-jail-free card. 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