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Free Software-Hostile Militants

Category:Astroturfing Category:Microsoft Category:GNU/Linux

In 2022-2023 a collective of online harassers picked on Techrights, trying very desperately to destroy its community, to interject illegal things into the site, hoping to somehow deplatform it. They misused Tor to hide or cover their tracks, but on occasions they unmasked themselves by accident.

This page is a list of the people associated with these activities among other unlawful activities. Regrettably, for the militants, they were reported to the police (multiple crime reports, from multiple victims of theirs, filed with the relevant authorities). These people are serial abusers, picking on many projects, people, and communities; one way to stop them is to name them and explain their tactics. An effort to hold them accountable, collectively, relies on widespread recognition of their rogue activities. There's a series explaining the anatomy of their attacks and coordination.

Members of the Syndicate



  • Matthew J Garrett, one of the saboteurs "in chief". He's among the controllers of online lynchmobs/'cancel mobs' by means of defaming, inciting, and mischaracterising, sometimes setting up and promoting slanderous petitions that blackmail institutions into submission.
  • [Name Redacted], a very aggressive "flunky" or "toadie" for the puppetmaster (shown to be quite submissive and obedient towards technical saboteurs)
  • Peter Bright, a Microsoft-controlled 'journalist' propelling the above into the limelight


  • Series Covering the Tactics

  • Operation Mole — Part I — The Person Working to Kill GNU and to Kill Linux From the Inside
  • Operation Mole — Part II — The Evolution of Matthew J Garrett’s Vast Army of Online Sockpuppets, Hiding Criminal Activities Behind the Tor Network
  • Operation Mole — Part III — Sabotaging Communities and Defaming People, Just Like the Sabotage of Linux and Deliberate Distortion of 'Security' (Giving Control to Microsoft)
  • Operation Mole — Part IV — Does Matthew J. Garrett's Antisemitism Tell Us Anything About His Motivation in Trying to Cancel Richard Stallman?
  • Operation Mole — Part V — The Fall of a Man is a Woman (Matthew J Garrett Foolishly Unmasks Himself, Tying Himself to Crimes)
  • Operation Mole — Part VI — The Same Criminals Who Have Abused Techrights Also Admit Doing This to Richard Stallman and the FSF (Even Right Now); There Are Connections to Microsoft, Too
  • Operation Mole — Part VII — From 'Be Nice!' to Threats of Violence
  • Operation Mole — Part VIII — Even Libera.Chat Has Gotten Sick of the Illegal Behaviour of 'Team Axe' (Microsoft Boosters K-Lined Last Night)
  • Operation Mole — Part IX — Hobby or Personal Gain Foreseen (Reward for Attacking Free Software)?




  • Detailed Explanation of the Teamwork

  • The Puppetmaster and the Lapdogs: How Abusive Outlaws Attack Women and GNU/Linux Communities
  • Rianne Schestowitz: Dissecting the Minds of the Mobsters


  • Memes

  • Meme: Axe-Wielding Microsoft Catspaw
  • Meme: Axe-Wielding Microsoft Trolls Impersonating Free Software People Across IRC Networks
  • Meme: Microsoft Rallying the Mentally Sick
  • Meme: DrAxe and DrKnife: Utterly Deranged Minds of Gulagboy and Britney
  • Meme: Cookie Monsta With Lobsta in the Dumpsta
  • Meme: We're Far From Done Writing About Free Software-Hostile Militants Who Attacked Techrights in IRC (and Beyond) for Years
  • Meme: Axe or Boomerang?
  • Meme: Hatchet Job Gone Wrong


  • Poetry

  • A Poem For The Social Justice Warrior Wannabes
  • Rianne Schestowitz: Poetry for Microsoft Lunatics on the Run


  • Also see:

  • AstroTurfing
  • List of Microsoft Sins