Notices by IFTAS (iftas@mastodon.iftas.org), page 2

📰 New IFTAS Connect blog post: July 2024 Connect Community Round-Up - https://connect.iftas.org/news/connect/july-2024-connect-community-round-up/

#Moderation #FediMods

We are seeing some ugly reminders of what it means to have open federation, and a renewed interest in guidance on first steps for blocking bad actors. Connecting to 30,000 servers means opening yourself up to potential abuse and harassment.

The IFTAS Library has several resources that may be helpful when reviewing federation policy.

FediCheck - An IFTAS app that helps new #MastoAdmin block known sources: https://connect.iftas.org/library/iftas-documentation/fedicheck/

Domain, IP and Email Domain resources: https://connect.iftas.org/library/tools-resources/denylist-resources/

Sample Federation Policy: https://connect.iftas.org/library/community-management/sample-federation-policies/

Do Not Interact List - a curated list of domains highly recommended for defederation: https://connect.iftas.org/library/iftas-documentation/iftas-dni-list/

CARIAD - an aggregated view of the most-blocked domains in the Fediverse (available via FediCheck): https://connect.iftas.org/library/iftas-documentation/cariad-policy/

#MastoMods #TrustAndSafety #Moderation

To support our work, please consider a donation: https://givebutter.com/iftas (tax deductible in the US, or check if your employer uses Benevity for matching funds)

📢 Exciting News! We are thrilled to welcome @tchambers to the IFTAS Advisory Board! Tim’s expertise in digital innovation, running indieweb.social, and combating disinformation will be invaluable as we continue to foster inclusive digital spaces. Check out the full announcement on our blog and learn more about the positive impact Tim will bring to IFTAS.

https://about.iftas.org/2024/07/12/tim-chambers-joins-the-iftas-advisory-board/

💬 New #Moderator Discussion (sign-in required): Reply To: Effective Moderation Tools - https://connect.iftas.org/forums/discussion/effective-moderation-tools/#post-4254

#FediMods #Moderation

✅ Our Moderator Advisory Council and others just completed a personal digital safety workshop with @tallpoppy as we onboard our first cohort of #moderators - providing guidance and concrete advice on preserving personal safety and offering incident support during times of harassment online or off. Fantastic resources!

Thanks to @leigh and the Tall Poppy team for helping us provide this very valuable service to our at-risk moderators and community managers in the Fediverse!

📢 We are thrilled to announce the launch of IFTAS Connect, a new community of practice designed specifically for Fediverse #Moderators

IFTAS Connect aims to provide moderators, community managers and anyone engaged in creating a safer Internet with a wealth of tools, resources, and a supportive network to help them connect, collaborate, and navigate the complexities of federated content moderation.

https://about.iftas.org/2024/05/29/iftas-connect-a-community-for-fediverse-moderators/

@moderation #Moderation #FediMods #MastoMods #TrustAndSafety

One of IFTAS’ priorities is to support Fediverse #moderators by creating template documents, training, and best practices guides.

We know there’s no “one size fits all” solution, but we’ve onsistently heard that these will be useful resources. As a first step towards that, IFTAS Advisors @Lillian and @jdp23 are conducting a survey and holding a series of discussion sessions. We welcome your participation!

Here’s the survey:
https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/0sU8JebkNU8lb1yTD0VFIFiX1HVXKB4r3At41z9gaNY/

#Moderation #TrustAndSafety @moderation

📝 Very happy to put our DSA Guide for Fediverse Services online today!

We get a lot of questions about the EU's Digital Services Act and the potential impact on Fediverse servers, so we partnered with Tremau - DSA experts - to break down when the law applies, when it doesn't, and practical guidance for Fedi admins who want to meet the requirements.

Community DSA Guide: https://about.iftas.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSA-Guide-Decentralised-Servers.pdf

https://about.iftas.org/2024/04/09/dsa-guide-for-the-fediverse/

More guidance coming! GDPR next...

@moderation #MastoAdmin #DSA

Everything we do will be free of charge to as many people as we can manage for as long as we're funded.

Speaking of... we're now a recognised charity and can accept donations!

If you'd like to support the work we do, please reach out or make a donation here: https://givebutter.com/iftas-supporter

or a recurring donation here: https://givebutter.com/iftas-sustaining-supporter

To stay informed subscribe to our newsletter at https://subscribepage.io/iftas

Thank you to everyone who has worked on these resources or offered feedback!

8/8

Last, and most definitely not least, our Moderator Advisory Council is now gearing up to begin advising and commenting on our activities.

We've created a stipend fund to pay for their time, and we couldn't be happier to be supporting these community leaders.

In addition, we will provide them and others with digital safety tools from Tall Poppy to help keep them safe on the social web.

7/8

So many great conversations at #FediForum - and great feedback from plenty of engaged attendees!

We'd like to give you a taste of what you'll be seeing from IFTAS and all our heroic advisors and volunteers in the coming month.

@moderation #Moderation #TrustAndSafety #FediMods

1/8

First up: FediCheck.

This is a Moderation-as-a-Service app that can monitor denylists from your trusted sources and automatically update your server.

For now we will use the IFTAS CARIAD database, but future versions will support a server or servers of your choice, popular denylists, or third-party labellers.

Mastodon only for now, but the roadmap includes additional platforms as well as toxic IP addresses and email domains.

Ask for beta access here: https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/E2yxXhoruIVzj4EGGdDIKintwBVFYsq9Srl4GhYeXwU/

2/8

Next: the DSA Guidebook for Micro Services.

Everything you wanted to know about the EU's Digital Services Act and were too afraid to ask.

We partnered with Tremau to take a look and figure out what parts apply to small platform service providers. Compliance may be hard, but we've provided some concrete guidance on how to stay on the right side of this broad regulation.

To follow, additional guidance on age verification requirements, GDPR issues, the UK's Online Safety Act and more.

4/8

CARIAD is a "day one" denylist for new admins. We scan a range of high-volume servers and monitor what domain blocks they agree on. Spoiler, it's not much.

Only one domain is blocked by all major providers, and a little over 100 are blocked by more than half.

After manual review we add them to the database for aggregation and construct a very basic denylist alongside our DNI list, using standard labels.

3/8

And there's more!

Our moderator community portal will house a library of resources for trust and safety, discussion forums, a sharing space to seek help from your peer moderator community, template documents, and a lot more.

Our staff and workgroups will be first through the door, but we'll be welcoming more community members soon!

5/8

@Lillian and @jdp23 kicked off our Moderator Documentation Support project.

This will gather up a range of moderator agreements, moderator codes of conduct, and any and all guidebooks we can find. Then, we will seek to provide baseline templates you can use to onboard new moderators and offer basic training and guidance on how to do the day-to-day tasks.

Learn more here: https://mastodon.iftas.org/@Lillian/112108782227917427

6/8

📢 Exciting News!

Jon Pincus joins the IFTAS Advisory Board as an Advisor on Moderator Support.

Jon’s background as a strategist, software engineer, entrepreneur, activist, and privacy advocate adds a broad perspective to our work on privacy, disinformation and safety that will be meaningfully relevant this busy election year.

Read the full announcement⬇️

https://about.iftas.org/2024/03/15/welcoming-jon-pincus/

cc: @jdp23 @moderation

📢 Exciting News!

Lillian Outlaw joins our IFTAS Advisory Board as an Advisor on Moderator Support.

As a licensed clinical social worker with over a decade of experience working with individuals and families from various socio-economic, cultural, and educational backgrounds, Lillian brings a new perspective to our support for volunteer moderators.

Welcome aboard, Lillian!

Read the full announcement ⬇️

https://about.iftas.org/2024/03/13/welcoming-lillian-outlaw/

cc: @Lillian @moderation

Open Social for the Common Good

In recent years, there has been a significant shift in how government agencies communicate with the public. Social media has become an indispensable tool for agencies to disseminate emergency information, public health alerts, engage with citizens, and provide services. The Fediverse and its most popular component, Mastodon, have emerged as potential alternatives to mainstream social media networks.

https://about.iftas.org/2024/03/06/open-social-for-the-common-good/