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so, before starting to learn about all of the (numerous) issues with #TheBadSpace, I was on team "give are0h a chance." marginalized people deserve to feel safe on the fediverse, and having a well-curated blocklist of nazi and spam instances handy is a Very Good Idea.

but it's become apparent that The Bad Space is *not* well-curated. it's full of spurious, unsourced accusations against instances run by marginalized people - and, disproportionately, by transfem people and anarchists.

and how has are0h been responding? well, let me just say that there's a way that a well-intentioned developer could defuse this situation. it would involve immediately taking the blocklist offline, going through the rigorous, and NECESSARY, process of vetting every single entry on the list, and removing those for which he can't find unambiguous receipts.

instead, he's been placing the responsibility on those on the blocklist to come to him and prove, TO HIM, that they're worthy of being REMOVED from the blocklist - characterizing it as "a minor inconvenience" that marginalized people have to plead the case that they're not crypto-fash who need to be isolated from the rest of the fediverse for the good of us all.

and, well, fuck that several times over.

you don't get to accuse marginalized people - primarily queer people, and especially transfem people - of being bad actors, go "okay, prove me wrong," and then wash your hands of the affair, all while you're collecting money to keep the project running, and all while there's a literal genocide going on against us outside our doors.

I trusted, I verified, and my verification led me to the fact that this whole situation stinks.