Notices by Folker (folkerschamel@mastodon.social), page 2

@tokyo_0 @Gargron @tay

Hm, my understanding of #activitypub is that the user on the blocked instance should not have been able to see that boosted post, because the blocked server would have gotten the post not from the boosting on the non-blocked instance, but is always trying to fetch each post from the original instance without need of propagating blocks.

But I don't know details of #activitypub, I may be wrong.

@tokyo_0 @Gargron @tay

Looking around in https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues a little bit:

It seems that there has been a bug that blocked domain appeared from account feed, but which was fixed three month ago. https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/pull/26823

I also found https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/28397 that user domain blocks do not prevent viewing updated profile information, which is not fixed yet.

I didn't look deep, but didn't notice any known issues suggesting fundamental flaws in blocking.

@tokyo_0 @Gargron @tay Do you have a specific primary source at hand?

@tokyo_0 @Gargron @tay

Yes, some comments of some people sound like it's not the case. But is it only a second hand rumor, or is there solid evidence for that? Did somebody really look into that?

Especially because the situation seems to be so charged, solid information would be much preferable.

@tokyo_0 @Gargron @tay

In any case, I think that if I personally block a domain this should have the same result for me as admin based instance blocking. Either this is already the case (and this is my understanding of @Gargron), or not, and then it should be fixed.

All this #fedipact and #defederation seems more an emotional and idiological discussion to me. Absolutely fine, and I see where people are coming from. As long as it's based on technical facts, not misinformation.

@tokyo_0 @Gargron @tay

I'm quite sure that he is very well aware of the significance of his words. But I don't see how pointing out technical facts can be wrong. In contrary, I think it's very important, especially in a charged atmosphere which is mainly driven by emotions (and sadly often technical misunderstandings).

@tokyo_0 @Gargron @tay

Well, if a momentum is caused because people have formed their opinions based on misinformation, then the problem is how that momentum could built up, not the person pointing out technical facts.

@tokyo_0 @Gargron @tay

I didn't test it myself, but my understanding is that content is never shared indirectly, but always fetched from the original instance. And therefore I understand @Gargron in that way that any user on an instance you have blocked personally cannot see or interact with any content of you, it never gets to that server, even if it was shared indirectly (and of course as long as it's not a screenshot).

If this is not the case, it seems a bug to me which should be reported.

@tokyo_0 @Gargron @tay

His explanation was no judgement about merits, just technical facts.

(Of course he may err or there may be bugs which should be fixed.)

@tokyo_0 @Gargron @tay

Well, either @Gargron is correct, then instance level blocking by the admin for all users aka defederation has no benefit over personal instance based blocking aka domain blocking.

If @Gargron is wrong then this seems to be a bug which should be fixed.

Personally I have no experience with blocking, since I didn't block anyone.

@tokyo_0 @Gargron @tay

According to https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/moderating/#block your content is hidden from other users, but only if you are on the same server. If this is the case this seems to be a major weekness to me.

Nevertheless, while directly sharing is easier, others can always post screenshots, so you can never avoid others talking about you without your knowledge.

@tokyo_0 @Gargron @tay That's always possible as soon as you post on a public social network. No user or instance blocing can prevent this.

@samuel @SallyStrange @steve

While I think that good content moderation is key, I just still don't understand the benefit or reason for instance level blocking or #fedipact when any user can simply just make their own choice by blocking whatever instance they want, leading to the same experience for that user without patronizing others.

But of course I support your feedom to run your instance as you want to. As you point out correctly, this is one of the awesome parts of the #fediverse.👍

@SallyStrange @samuel @steve

The original post was about something different:

About justifying a block by claiming that something is a thread to your culture.

Yes, I still think and agree with @steve that this is a dangerous argument.

@SallyStrange @samuel @steve

The intention of building up (physical or electronic) walls to "protect against other cultures" is often based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophobia.

@SallyStrange @samuel @steve

You can be cosmopolitan and at the same time proud of your own culture and preserve your own culture, without being afraid of other cultures or having the feeling that you must protect against other cultures.

@NicolaElle @SallyStrange @samuel @steve

I'm not arguing against blocking. And I'm not even arguing against instance blocking in general.

I'm just saying that I prefer giving individual people the choice if they block #threads, and I don't see the need of instance admins making the decisions for them.

@samuel @SallyStrange @NicolaElle @steve

You are sure that you want to defend the "we have to protect against other cultures" argument?

@Mastodon

Does someone know the #fediverse works? How transitive is it?

Suppose server S1 federates with server S2, which federates with server S3, but S1 does not federate with S3. User U1 on server S1 sends message M1. User U2 on server S2 responds with message M2.

Can user U3 on server S3 see both messages M1 and M2, or only message M2, or none of them? Can user U3 reply to message M1 or M2 or both? If yes, will user U1 see it?

#meta #threads #mastodon #activitypub

@Gargron Gratulations!
And thanks a lot for the great work!
I'm one of the new users. I came because of the cat pictures.