An Italy-based group is unable to keep providing digital tools to radical activists worldwide due to U.S. sanctions, the group announced on Sunday.
The Autistici Inventati Collective, or A/I Collective, will soon “discontinue” its services after the Trump administration classified the group as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” in August, according to the announcement. The sanctions caused a European bank to cancel the A/I Collective’s account and created “legal and financial consequences” that are too risky to tolerate, the collective said.
Federal officials highlighted the 25-year-old foreign collective for providing website hosting, encrypted communications, the blogging platform NoBlogs, and other tools with the explicit purpose of helping “anti-fascism” activists anonymize their data while posting extreme content. NoBlogs users — vetted and chosen by A/I — used the platform to post statements taking credit for attacks that sparked U.S. law enforcement inquiries, try to dox political enemies’ home addresses, and republish propaganda from other designated terrorists, the State Department noted. The group’s announcement means that extremists will lose a key resource for organizing legally risky activities, as well as posts meant to inspire their radicalized followers into action.
“The day we discovered we had been designated a global terrorist organization, we promised that we would try to resist as long as this was possible, that we would not back down as long as we could see options to stand our ground,” A/I said. “For years, we have proudly maintained and defended a free, privacy-friendly, autonomous and politically committed infrastructure.”
“In this political climate, continuing to offer our services endangers our users and anyone who is part of our communities,” the group said. “In a world where allegations are disconnected from reality, we can only expect repression to be increasingly disproportionate. Under these circumstances, we are no longer able to maintain our original mission — offering secure and non-commercial digital tools.”
President Donald Trump’s terrorist designation creates penalties going forward for funding the A/I Collective and receiving any services from the organization. Everyone involved in any transactions with the activists is required to cut ties by Sept. 25, according to the Treasury Department. Providing “material support” to foreign terrorists is punishable by up to 20 years in prison under federal law.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s team tied the A/I Collective to around 16,000 mailboxes, 1,500 websites, 5,500 mailing lists, and 10,000 blogs. The group said Sunday it will follow up with instructions on “how to back up the content of your blogs, mailboxes and websites, along with more technical recommendations.”
HOW A LEFTIST NETWORK USED BY TERRORISTS OPERATED IN PLAIN SIGHT FOR YEARS
The collective denies acting as a vehicle for terrorism, though it acknowledged in an August media interview that it works only with users who profess its far-left values. Those include a group that used NoBlogs to brag about bombing crisis pregnancy centers in 2022 and issue death threats against anti-abortion figures, among other controversial users. A/I is also “proud to say” it has never handed over data about its users to law enforcement officials throughout years of investigations, according to its website.
A/I denied responsibility for aiding its clients’ actions in the interview, saying, “We never look into what users do with our infrastructure.”