US terror designation forces Italian tech group to shut down

Italian technology collective Autistici/Inventati (A/I) announced on Sunday that it would shut down its services after a US terrorism designation resulted in the suspension of its .org domain and the closure of its bank account.

The closure affects about 16,000 mailboxes, 1,500 websites, 5,500 mailing lists and 10,000 blogs, according to the US State Department, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The volunteer-run provider, founded in 2001, offers privacy-focused email, websites, mailing lists and blogging services to activists, campaigners and others seeking alternatives to commercial platforms.

The United States designated the group on August 26, alleging it provided support to extremist activists and organizations through services including email accounts, websites and communications tools.

A/I rejected the designation, describing itself as a collective of volunteers and digital activists that provides digital self-defense tools for activists, individuals, groups and associations.

Two days later, autistici.org became unreachable after Public Interest Registry (PIR), the US-based operator of the .org domain, placed it on serverHold status. PIR said it was legally required to suspend the domain following the designation.

Banca Etica, an Italian lender where the collective held an account, subsequently suspended the account, citing sanctions-related risks. The bank criticized what it described as the use of US sanctions for political purposes.

In a statement announcing the closure, A/I said it had hoped to continue operating but could no longer do so responsibly.

"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," the collective said.

However, it said it had "a responsibility to protect our users" and could not ignore the risk that people associated with the organization might face legal or financial consequences.

"The possibility that our work may cause legal and financial consequences to those who are close to us, or even only have something to do with us, leaves us no choice," it said.