Notices by Chad Loder (chadloder@kolektiva.social)

Hell Is Patient

People with critically important privacy needs should never base their safety on the assumption that a Mastodon instance's data is secure from the feds.

Some early observations about Bluesky:

• People are having fun. People clearly missed using Twitter to shitpost.
• There are no norms yet. Nobody uses content warnings, nor is there a built-in feature for content warnings.
• Nobody uses alt text. Nobody gets scolded for not using alt text. Right now, Bluesky seems like a nightmare for blind and low-vision people.
• It's eery to see known abusers on Bluesky who I've had blocked for years, without the ability to block them.
• It's only a matter of days before violent right-wing accounts like A*dy Ng* show up on Bluesky. They WILL be allowed on, and they WILL build large followings, and the content moderation and privacy tools of Bluesky are not yet up to the task.

I wrote something about how I'm judging people who joined BlueSky, and I've since had a number of Black friends reach out and explain to me why they feel more hopeful about finding safe community on BlueSky than in the Mastodon-centric Fediverse.

So, my judgment was unwarranted. As reluctant as I am about the business model of for-profit social media companies, I also see how little has been done to make Black folx feel welcome here. I've definitely run into the nitpicky / tone-policing aspect of Mastodon, and I barely posted on here.

Official autopsy report confirms Atlanta Police and Georgia State Patrol murdered peaceful activist in cold blood. "The fingernails are closely trimmed and intact. Gunpowder residue is not seen on the hands. A GSR kit [gunshot residue kit] is performed." https://crimethinc.com/2023/04/20/atlanta-police-and-georgia-state-patrol-are-guilty-of-murder-the-evidence-and-the-motive

From the leopards-eating-faces department: In 48 hours, Matt Taibbi went from Elon Musk's hand-picked propagandist to being unfollowed by Musk, completely de-boosted in the Twitter feed, and announcing his departure from Twitter after Musk rendered Substack links completely inaccessible from the bird app.

Incredible and yet somehow predictable turn of events here catalogued by @mmasnick, who writes "The refrain to remember with Twitter under Elon Musk: it can always get dumber". https://www.techdirt.com/2023/04/10/after-matt-taibbi-leaves-twitter-elon-musk-shadow-bans-all-of-taibbis-tweets-including-the-twitter-files/

@PJ_Evans To be fair, State Department has designated like half of Mexico as "Do Not Travel" despite millions of American citizens regularly crossing the border and back without incident.

The fact that Americans are risking their lives traveling to a region of Mexico controlled by cartels in order to obtain healthcare says a lot more about the USA than it does about Mexico.

Facebook and Google are handing over user data to help police prosecute abortion seekers https://www.businessinsider.com/police-getting-help-social-media-to-prosecute-people-seeking-abortions-2023-2

@LibertyForward1 That won't make a difference. Google and Facebook already know everyone's gender and sex, and they can easily filter out those searches.

The issue right now is that law enforcement is asking for information on specific people.

Elon Musk announces that he will temporarily suspend Andy Ngo's account because of Ngo's repeated, egregious weaponization of DMCA. [sarcasm: Elon wouldn't dream of suspending Ngo]

A secretive organisation accused of collaborating with far-right activists has been operating out of the House of Lords for more than a decade, a cache of leaked documents suggests. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/25/house-of-lords-worked-with-far-right

Mastodon server operators should form a legal defense union, pooling resources and funds for collective defense against warrants and subpoenas from the government and from litigious far-right actors intent on abusing civil discovery.

Senior Twitter employee admits under oath that Twitter made exceptions to its racism policies to accomodate racist tweets by Trump, even going so far as to change their polices to avoid having to enforce them on Trump's tweets.

This is a good time to break your addiction to Twitter. I haven't tweeted for several months. You'll be much happier.

Andy Ngo falsely suggested that "antifa" and "black bloc" were behind the bizarre December stalking incident involving Musk's children and Grimes.

Andy Ngo's career is based on provably false claims about "antifa". Ngo's claim was part of a transparent campaign to ingratiate himself with Twitter's new owner, whom Ngo relies on to raise money for his various scams.

Andy Ngo vocally celebrates the murder of Black men by police. Ngo blamed George Floyd for his own murder and called him a "late porn star".

Andy Ngo suggested that Ahmaud Arbery deserved to be murdered because he had once been convicted of a petty crime.

Ngo made made several false claims about Ahmaud Arbery, including a claim about a homeowner's surveillance video that was quickly refuted by the homeowner himself.

Twitter, which recently suspended my account and the accounts of several other journalists, is allowing a verified account to post recruitment videos urging American soldiers to join Russia's Wagner Group PMC, a neo-Nazi linked paramilitary organization designated as a transnational criminal organization by the US government.

Honoring Tyre Nichols as he lived, enjoying the things he loved, before the world watches a video of his murder. ?❤️? #TyreNichols #skate #BadBrains

Elon Musk personally banned Chad Loder from Twitter. Reported first by WaPo, now Bloomberg has confirmed with the screenshots. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-27/elon-musk-s-twitter-trust-safety-head-ella-irwin-breaks-rules-for-him?leadSource=uverify%20wall