Mastodon and free speech
Mastodon and free speech
This post is not only to try finding the best Mastodon instance/server but I also wanted to express about the Mastodon instances. Most of Mastodon servers are apparently harsh about other instances that include things they don't like and are quite serious about getting those Internet points putting how the place isn't welcome for "bigotry" and is for everyone and so diverse, and I wouldn't have any problems with this if this wasn't frequently used by people who will try to shut you if they disagree enough with you and will try to present themselves as so virtuous. You'd expect that the free side of the Internet would have people that value freedom and should let anything that isn't a crime or something that prejudice the instance itself or whatever space they're in but it seems this vision is getting far from the reality with time.
I find this a very odd take... You are free to say whatever you want, however people are also free to not listen to you. Why is the freedom to not listen seen as a "lesser" freedom than the freedom to say what you want?
The main benefit of federation like Mastodon and Lemmy is that if you and like-minded people in your community don't wish to listen to vitriol being spewed then you don't have to. Don't like it? Go and find an instance that does tolerate it and does want to listen.
The thing is that instances are not the individuals themselves but spaces for individuals. Sure the instances are driven by people but as they are publicly available and are tools for the communication of people and are susceptible to a different set of ethics; while you as an individual can just ignore people that think differently from you, restricting a tool/product from someone cause they think differently is and has to be seen as dumb and bad. I know the federated Internet is the best thing to freedom, otherwise I would've bought the Twitter premium thing and dyed my hair blue to bully people all day in there. However, the fact that people join the libre Internet, not only hate freedom for other people but also want to isolate people that believe the individual should be free from the major part of the FREE Internet just seems stupid to me.
counterpoint: you’re FREE to simply start your own instance and run it how you like? who are you to demand (or even to criticize) others for running an instance according to their own ethics and standards simply because you disagree, especially when you are free to run one by your own? do they not have the same freedom to do so as do you?
You knocked the nail on the head with the first sentence.
The thing is that instances are not the individuals themselves but spaces for individuals
With federation you can join like minded spaces, nobody is forcing anybody to join a particular instance. The whole thing is about freedom and choice yet you seem to want to limit that choice for people?
The paradox of tolerance states that if a society is tolerant without limit, its ability to be tolerant is eventually seized or destroyed by the intolerant. Karl Popper described it as the seemingly self-contradictory idea that in order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must retain the right to be intolerant of intolerance.
Mind you, the second half of the text is wrong (like unironically and objectively, despite I agreeing with the second half, contradicts the first half.
No it doesn’t. There is no contradiction there. You’re talking nonsense.
Do you know how Goebbels infamously described the Weimar Republic’s attitude towards the Nazi Party?
Essentially, if you’re not familiar, Goebbels was quoted as saying something along the lines of “I have no idea why they allowed us to exist in their system and take power. It should have been obvious that as soon as we gained power, we’d use that power to dismantle the system and ban the traditional parties from politics. Anyone with half a brain would have realized that and banned us first.” Then he cackled like a witch.
Ok I made up the part about the cackle.
You will be hard-pressed to find a home on the #fediverse as somebody who is conservative. That's just a simple fact. The fediverse is generally a home for those that reject capitalism and have gone hard to the left. The reason for this is because corporate social media banned and censored people that share my viewpoints. This is most likely why you aren't getting the reception that you hoped for
That much said the protocol that makes the fediverse work, ActivityPub, is completely standard and free to use and adopt. There is nothing other than time preventing you from studying it and deriving an implementation that will put you in touch with people that share your values.
The beauty of the Fediverse is that anyone can set up an instance and, if a bunch of Nazis, for example, did that then it needn't be an issue for as, in the normal run of things, I wouldn't just stumble across it, I'd need to seek it out.
Where that Nazi instance would become an issue is if:
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Their content is illegal in the country another instance is based in (for example Germany), as anyone subscribing to a community on the Nazi server from another instance is causing that content to be drawn over and displayed in another instance. It happened recently with issues arising from lolicon.
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The Nazis decide to stir the hornets nest and start cross-posting objectionable content or just being unpleasant trolls. If an instance becomes known as a hotbed of trolls and bots it is likely to be cut off by the main instance.
Neither example is anyone scoring "Internet points".
Yes, that's the part where I said in most part only illegal content and things that prejudice the instance itself like bots and spam overall should be prohibited.
And that's what usually happens. Almost all the cases of defederation I am aware of have been over bots.
Different instances have different tolerances for things though - my home one has said they'll use defederation sparingly but we'll see what happens when they are properly tested.
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I think I get what you're trying to say here that if you even slightly and respectfully disagree then you're banned. That's not so much a feature of Mastodon as a bug of humanity. I like to refer to it as a range of tolerance. I have a really broad range. But I have no tolerance for hatred, racism, and bigotry. There is no valid argument putting these subjects in a positive light - zero. zip. nada. There is no alternative conversation to be had where these could be remotely beneficial. I can understand and tolerate different likes and dislikes without getting impassioned. But if you attack me or my principles, I won't even glorify you with a response. It will be an instant block and I will wash my hands of it.
If you @Milk_SDF_Possum@lemmy.sdf.org are generally a follower of the conservative end of the political spectrum, that is every bit your right as it is my right not to have to be subjected to that morass of hate. I am sure there are instances that federate solely around conservative values if that is what you seek out.
Yes, that's what I wanted to say. "Anti-bigotry" turned into a tool for bullies to shut people who don't think the same and, while I know the problem is not exclusively with Mastodon, it's definitely frustrating to go to a place that was supposed to be some kind of refuge for the free people but has the same people from the place you escaped from. Thanks for being respectful. Also, I'm a right guy but I'm not conservative.