seedsignal
@alice It's a form of reverse coercion and should be cause for immediate banning. I don't know what it will take to get some of these humans to understand there's a really good reason to murder with prejudice "services" that make their name on the back of exclusionary convenience.
If they genuinely don't see it as an issue, let them say so publicly so I can adjust my instance residency sooner than later.
This matters. FFS. 🪔🖖
Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸
@seedsignal @alice if you do not want tags.pub to boost your users' post, you should absolutely block the server. That will quickly stop the boosts.
Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸
Here's how to block the tags.pub domain in Mastodon.
- Search for anything@tags.pub in the search bar.
- Click on the anything@tags.pub account to load the profile page.
- Click the three-dot menu. Scroll down to "Block tags.pub" (don't just block this account)
- Click the red button to confirm
Screencast attached
Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸
@Athena you don't have to block anything if it's not set up as a relay for your server.
Athena
@evan why do we have to go to extra effort to block your shitty bot you never got permission to run on our posts? take this shit offline and rethink it from scratch.
![Robert [KJ5ELX] :donor:](https://gnusocial.jp/avatar/391871-48-20260707230150.webp){kind=small}
Robert [KJ5ELX] :donor:
It's really very privileged to offer instructions on your problematic bot, when people are telling you that the very existence of your bot is the problem.
Also, do you not get how enabling this is to stalkers and people with bad intentions, the very people that many are using fedi to escape?
Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸
@FuturisticRobert Hi, Robert!
We did think about that! tags.pub uses block-respecting boosts to reshare your content. That means that if your server has a domain block or a user block against someone, and authorized fetch is enabled, they won't be able to receive your content. It also means that if you follow a hashtag, and someone posts with that tag that you have blocked, you won't see it.
Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸
Most relays don't; they use a form of boost that includes all the content in the data packet, so that your server doesn't get a chance to enforce the block.
Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸
@Mabande @FuturisticRobert We used to use open-registration public relays as a source of content to share, on the theory that people who use those relays want their content shared widely and don't care about controlling which servers the content goes to. We still notified users that their content was being shared, and gave them a chance to opt out.
L'égrégore André ꕭꕬ
@evan @FuturisticRobert okay, so you respect a block, but the issue still is that you do not respect the lack of consent in the first place.
This "opt out of something you don't even know exist" issue has been recurring and I don't understand how you have managed to evade learning about it, and, if you know about it, how you've managed to not understand that people will be furious and that you'll lose trust.
Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸
Since people were surprised when the got those notifications, we don't use open relays any more. https://socialwebfoundation.org/2026/06/28/unsubscribing-tags-pub-from-open-registration-relays/
So, now, we're only opt-in. https://tags.pub/#optin
Robert [KJ5ELX] :donor:
@evan @Mabande there's this prevalence of the "we" in technology now and it's dystopian no matter who uses it.
"We" is a mindset of a collective that "you" the person receiving the message have no say over.
Microsoft's "Please wait while we apply updates and restart your computer" is the most egregious example. This is the antithesis of decentralization and independent, user oriented, empowerment that was promised by the PC revolution, amplified by the early internet, and is being eroded from every corner by big-tech and it needs to stop. Now!
Evan Prodromou 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇬🇷🇵🇸
@FuturisticRobert @Mabande I used "we" because I work for a non-profit called the Social Web Foundation. I'm speaking on behalf of the Foundation.
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