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Top-level
Aral Balkan
Edit: So if you’re on Fosstodon, know that Fosstodon has silenced my account. You should be able to follow me if you want to see my posts but won’t otherwise see them if they’re boosted into your timelines, etc. Or maybe consider switching to a FOSS server that doesn‘t silence FOSS developers. (Please boost if you haven’t been silenced by Fosstodon also so folks there might see. Thanks.) #foss #fosstodon #censorship #fediverse #mastodon #freeSoftware #openSource #privacy #SmallTech #SmallWeb 66 comments
Nuno & Lua :DsaprvingLua:
Thomas Ricouard
maegul
This also highlights the strange conflations that can or have happened with microblogging decentralisation. A general topic (FOSS) and a moderation policy have been bound together for a server of people probably reading microblog feeds about all sorts of stuff. It questions the value of decentralisation in this web2.0 form (at least for microblogging).
Chris
@dimillian @ncrav @aral @maegul I'm curious to understand why people (and apps) largely follow this one-account-policy, rather than combining profiles on several (niche and non-niche) servers (and providing a really nice UX around this). I know mastodon (and maybe ActivityPub) is built around different identities in different communities, but why do we have to use it that way?
maegul
For me ... **the** question ATM. Many are asking their respective platforms to re-invent everything on every other platform. Apart from being inefficient, it just won't happen. The killer feature for the fediverse may very well be building out an aggregation layer so that platforms can do their thing and we users can mix & match however we want. Such may even require new aggregating servers where user accounts actually live??
Chris
@maegul @dimillian @ncrav @aral mmh. I dislike the idea of aggregating servers simply for the fact that it's another centralized thing. Having different servers represent different communities (in the traditional, offline sense) makes a lot of sense to me. I'm thinking more in terms of one portable, controlled-by-nobody-else, user interface that lets people interact with all these communities.
maegul
Yes on the uncentralised options! Except that they'd probably work well in terms of performance and caching etc, and probably wouldn't result in more centralisation than we've seen already from mastodon and mastodon.social. If the software were open, then you could hope/expect multiple instnaces to be run with different focuses in terms of topics/niche-instances and policies around moderating/banning accounts. Also, different UI designs, which would be important!
legumancer Davy
@ncrav @aral @maegul meanwhile, one of their users railing against women posting photos of themselves breastfeeding is apparently fine. (A victim blaming reply to a post about a trans woman who was harassed for posting a photo of the last time she was able to breastfeed before starting chemotherapy.) 
robin
@ncrav @aral @maegul yeah this is basically why I left #fosstodon. They didn't block me or anything, but took the (in my opinion) wrong side when someone complained about one of my posts that was apparently controversial.
Aaron Caskey-Demaret
DELETED
@maegul @aral unfortunately this is what happens when mods and admins think they know what's "best" for all their users. Pro-tip, users are quite capable of figuring out who they want to follow/mute or block themselves without some overzealous mod or admin deciding for them. Edit: additionally its using tools like hide, or suspend things that are designed for troublesome users/spam/malicious actors being used on someone who's only crime was *maybe* having a different opinion... Absurd.
Jazzyboy :solus: :vim: :linux:
@paul @maegul @aral Personally, I would rather not sign up to an entirely unmoderated instance and find myself having to block countless bots, conspiracy theorists, and bigots. Moderation is essential. It's just better when the moderators have the same principles as I do. One of the great things about decentralisation, though, is that I could move to another instance if I find I can't trust Fosstodon's admins anymore. For now, I'm reserving judgement as I think this was a technical glitch.
FLOSS.social :mastodon_oops:
They also just blocked one of our admins, @downey. Doesn't sound like a technical glitch.
DELETED
@admin @jazzyboy @maegul @aral @downey Mods/admins really need to stop using this nuclear option all the time. Happens far too often nowadays, this with what looks like multiple people now - the whole thing with mstdn dot social and dot art.... Yeah we get it people make mistakes, get upset etc, but seriously. Imagine all the cases where its just a guy with a couple of hundred followers not even realising something like this has happened. Undermining the Fediverse completely. 
BrentInMasto
@paul Ah, that explains something I was wondering about. Got 'account suspended' when I tried to check up on .art's admin's profile from .coffee (uses same list as mstdn dot social) but I didn't see .art listed on their moderated server list. Seems like a shame, but thanks for the insight.
BrentInMasto
@paul Was hoping the rest of the thread would have more info on the .art and mstdn conflict, but nothing more than you mentioned.
mkb
@paul Pfeh. Making those decisions is what mods/admins do. If you don’t like their choices, go to a different instance. Each of us gets to choose an instance with rules that work best for us. That’s one of the core ideas behind the fediverse. You get to say and think whatever you want, nobody else is obligated to provide you with time, space, or attention.
Niels Abildgaard
@mkb this is a terrible take, bud. Of course you're right in principle, but feedback from the community, as is happening here, is just as important a mechanism for a healthy community, in this case around FOSS on the fediverse. Your reply dismisses all the very important criticism by describing what everyone here already knows.  
Deus
17k users at Fosstodon. Yet another case of bullying by Mega Instances? Been there. Quoting someone: “I don’t think a lot of people on fedi, Mastodon in particular, realise quite what a bad reputation this community has.” https://mastodon.social/users/Bloonface/statuses/110660946458012261 
73 million seconds
@aral from Your followers should still be fine. Based on Mastodon docs limiting (silencing) a user doesn't break follows and only means posts won't show up on public timelines: https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/moderation/#limit-user Or are the Mastodon docs incorrect?
Aral Balkan
@73ms Hmm, interesting. I was going by this: https://mastodon.ar.al/@JoshStrobl@fosstodon.org/110688921326838056
Timo Tiuraniemi
John Conway
Aral Balkan
Note: edited to make it clear that I was silenced not suspended. Apparently that doesn’t make people unfollow you but it means that your posts do not show up in people’s timelines if they’re boosted there, etc. So, basically, folks on Fosstodon are not made to unfollow me but I’m censored there. 
Mehrad :kde: :emacs: :rstats:
DELETED
@Mehrad @aral @fosstodon you follow aral and aral boosted me, so you can see us due to your follow relationship with aral. We are only hidden to those who do not have some connection in that way.
Leon Paternoster
@aral fwiw @fosstodon I can’t see anything that warrants @aral’s silencing, both in tone and subject.  
Christine Hall
@aral So, in effect it's sort of a manual algorithm? You know, one of those things that Mastodon is so proud not to have. Interesting. 
Digital Mark λ 📚 🕹 💾 🥃
@aral fosstodon is mostly a troll instance, I have a couple followers there but the vast majority of interactions with them are some "Well Actually GNU Linux". 
Deus
The next time I’m silenced, be there for me. Remember, “When they came for the…., I didn’t speak. When they came for me, there was no one for me.” This time I was there for you🤭
Aral Balkan
@gemlog Your guess is as good as mine. Nothing was communicated to me. And it looks like it has been lifted now. Still, no idea why.
PublicLewdness
@aral
I got banned by Fosstodon. Best thing that happened to me as it made me look for instances that weren't as censorship heavy. 
Kevin Karhan :verified:
@aral I just wounder why #Fosstodon would so so, since you ain't some asshole like "ioerror" or god forbid RMS...
Jer Warren
@aral is there... a way I can cause this exact behavior to apply to my own account without unknowingly pissing someone off to cause it?! |
Gregory's Server
@aral so if you don’t mind my asking, as someone not enough in the know, why did they do this?