Notices by Wander ΘΔ :verified_paw: (wander@packmates.org)

In the wake of #fediblock and #thebadspace controversy, I would like to highlight the existance of the #RemoteNeutrality approach.

Remember #NetNeutrality, ISPs being common carriers and them not meddling with the pages users want to see? This is similar.

Under a "remote neutral" approach each #fediverse instance leaves the tight opinionated moderation policies to their own users users and the content their users generate or share with the aim of running a safe and welcoming instance for their members that's safe to federate with.

However, remote content is only moderated whenever there is a report and only blocked if it's straight out illegal to host / cache or constitute unsolicited spam/harassment. Otherwise objectionable remote content is limited at most and users can block it if they want.

I can't stress enough the benefits this has:

1. It makes moderation feasible for small instances

2. It does not fracture the fediverse unnecessarily

involved reached out to ask and get more information.

It's increasingly difficult for me to not side with my users if the alternative is a moderation style that's aggressive and ruthless.

But this isn't about me. When these new Reddit refugees express their concerns about something that seems to have been normalized on #mastodon or the wider #fediverse, I realize that I'm not alone.

Jabber / #XMPP did not have this problem. Neither does email, mainly because it's all private messages, but we better do something to be more responsible with our users to which we owe a sensible moderation instead of doing things on a whim with disregard of the people it affects.

#Lemmy / #Kbin needs to implement silences and Fediblock's popularity needs to be converted into Fedimute.

Fediblocking IMHO is almost only warranted if a remote instance is spammy, harassing or disruptive. Just like blocking spam servers.

Muting should be implemented in such a way that it allows the instance owner to

Had it been a smaller instance it could have been fediblocked to oblivion. Users would have lost contact to their friends and communities and many would have come to the conclusion that it's not worth it being on smaller instances and flock to massive ones or even back to corporate platforms where that problem doesn't exist.

A few days ago I faced a similar problem myself. We were blocked by an instance 200 times larger than outselves because I had the gall to suggest talking to a user about a report to get their version of events instead of killing them on sight. My instance was blocked even before the conversation was over, just like that.

And to top it all off a few days later a report that one of our users sent out (a different user, mind you) and for a completely different reason was taken as proof that I'm letting my users abuse the report system and support abusive behavior!? Everything was done and blocked before I had even logged in.

Only one admin of the three instances

curate public timelines and shield users from interactions that could be unwanted but which can be allowed if the users decided to accept a follow or follows back.

And most importantly, any big moderation decisions need be discussed with time, a cool head and a user-oriented attitude first.

Otherwise what's the point of us smaller instances existing if we're going to be rolled over by larger ones on a whim?

#Fediverse #Mastodon #Lemmy #Kbin

The #Fediverse needs to learn some serious conflict resolution...

If we ever aspire to become a serious alternative to corporate platforms we can't continue with this behavior. Let me explain.

Two days ago someone created a "The_Donald" community of a well-known #Lemmy instance. Immediately there were cries for defederation, blocking, and suspicion about the admin letting racists run rampant on his instance.

Ultimately when the admin logged in they removed that community. But before they even had time to realize what was happening they were already being accused of stuff and if any instance heeded the call to block, it would have caused damage to the users who would have their subscriptions / follows severed.

Some users who've just arrived from Reddit and bring a fresh perspective are already wary of the shit show this can become.

That instance resisted massive blocks because it was large enough. But what if it was smaller? >>

#Mastodon #Kbin #Project92 #MastoAdmin