The Nexus of Privacy @ thenexusofprivacy @infosec.exchange

A newsletter about [#privacy](https://infosec.exchange/tags/privacy), [#tec

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3 yr. ago

@Kirk It is. As their announcement says,

"This decision applies only to the Bluesky app, which is one service built on the AT Protocol. Other apps and services may choose to respond differently."

Of course, today 99.9%+ of the people using AT Protocol-based services are using Bluesky's app. But that was already in the process of changing, and stuff like this -- and the Online Services Act, and the (very justifiable) desire by Canadians and Europeans and everybody else not to be depending on US company's infrastructure are just giving it more momentum. So, it'll be interesting to see how it works out.

@naught101 yeah, I just tagged the lemmy community ... and yes it is super cool! although, as the NSFW highlights, somewhat clunky around the edges ... if I don't include a CW here then it figures out the title on its own, and it's not always what I want.

@naught101 it shouldn't, but anything posted on Mastodon with a CW is marked as NSFW on Lemmy. Similarly when the post bridged to Bluesky it got marked as "graphic media" lol. Not sure there's anything I can do about it in either case.

Congrats ... and timely too!

And yes, good article @Sarahp

@julian

@MrJameGumb yeah I thought @Diplomjodler3 nailed it with "monetize my ass". Then again people have been trying to commercialize the fediverse even before the term got invented -- StatusNet got initial venture funding back in 2009 or so back when it was still the identifverse. So it's a long-standing tension in fedi as a whole.

Mostly though I'm just entertained that people think that it's self-promotion on my part 😂

@LiterallyLMAO I don't think so. But why do you think this is self-promotion? I've got nothing to do with the project, and it's news about the fediverse so it's on-topic for this community.

@olives Very true. And it won't make kids safer. @badinternetbills

Instances in the free fediverses should consider "transitive defederation" from instances that federate with Meta

https://privacy.thenexus.today/consider-transitively-defederatiion/

Part 7 of Strategies for the free fediverses

Transitive defederation -- defederating from instances that federate with Threads as well as defederating from Threads -- isn't likely to be an all-or-nothing thing in the free fediverses. Tradeoffs are different for different people and instances. This is one of the strengths of the fediverse, so however much transitive defederation there winds up being, I see it as overall as a positive thing -- although also messy and complicated.

So the recommendation here is for instances to consider #TransitiveDefederation: discuss, and decide what to do. I've also got some thoughts on how to have the discussion -- and the strategic aspects.

https://privacy.thenexus.today/consider-transitively-defederatiion/

@fediversenews @fediverse #fediverse #fedipact #threads

The free fediverses should work together with people and instances in Meta's fediverses and on Bluesky whose goals and values align with the free fediverse

https://privacy.thenexus.today/work-together-with-metas-fediverses-and-bluesky/

Part 6 of Strategies for the free fediverses

Many of the Meta advocates I've talked to share the free fediverses' long-term goal of building a sustainable alternative to surveillance capitalism -- and the same is true for people on Bluesky. So there are likely to be situations where some of the people and instances in Meta's fediverses and Bluesky wind up as situational allies to the free fediverses.

A few areas where collaboration could be very useful:

A key principle of organizing is meeting people where they are.

Moderation on decentralized networks is a shared challenge.

Bringing concepts similar to Bluesky's custom feeds to the fediverses, and more generally focusing on human-focused and liberatory (as opposed to oppressive) uses of algorithms in decentralized social networks designed from the margins.

Meta's fediverses, Bluesky, and the free fediverses are all vulnerable to disinformation.

https://privacy.thenexus.today/work-together-with-metas-fediverses-and-bluesky/

fediverse #threads #bluesky #organizing @fediversenews

The free fediverses should make it easier to move between (and create) instances

Part 5 of Strategies for the Free Fediverse

https://privacy.thenexus.today/make-it-easier-to-move-to-instances-in-the-free-fediverses/

There's likely to be a lot of moving between instances as people and instances sort themselves out into the free fediverses and Meta's fediverses -- and today, moving accounts on the fediverse today. There are lots of straightforward ways to improve it, many of which don't even require improvements to the software. And there are also opportunities to make creating, customizing, and connecting instances easier.

fediverse #fedipact #threads @fediversenews

The free fediverses should support concentric federations of instances

Part 4 of Strategies for the Free Fediverses

https://privacy.thenexus.today/the-free-fediverses-should-support-concentric-federations-of-instances/

Here's how @zkat describes caracoles: "you essentially ask to join concentric federations of instances ... with smaller caracoles able to vote to federate with entire other caracoles."

And @ophiocephalic's "fedifams" are a similar idea: "Communities could align into fedifams based on whatever conditions of identity, philosophy or interest are relevant to them. Instances allied into fedifams could share resources and mutually support each other in many way"

The idea's a natural match for community-focused, anti-surveillance capitalism free fediverses, fits in well with the Networked Communities model discussed in part 3, and helps address scalability of consent-based federation discussed in Part 2.

https://privacy.thenexus.today/the-free-fediverses-should-support-concentric-federations-of-instances/

fediverse #fedipact #threads @fediversenews @fediverse

The free fediverses should emphasize networked communities

https://privacy.thenexus.today/the-free-fediverses-should-emphasize-networked-communities/

Here's how @lrhodes describes the Networked Communities view:

"instances are valuable for the relations and interactions they facilitate locally AND for their ability to connect you to other parts of the network."

By contrast, @evanprodromou notes that "Big Fedi" advocates typically see instances as typically see the instance as "mostly a dumb pipe." But The Networked Communities view aligns much better with the free fediverses' values – as does the "Social Archipelago" view @noracodes sketches in The Fediverse is Already Dead. Not only that, it's good strategy!

@fediversenews #fediverse #threads #fedipact

The free fediverses should focus on consent (including consent-based federation), privacy, and safety

https://privacy.thenexus.today/free-fediverses-and-consent/

(Part 2 of "Strategies for the free fediverses")

fediverse #mastodon #fedipact @fediversenews

@drwho Not necessarily. In the short term, the huge split in the Republican party means that the NDAA's already not a slam-dunk, so throwing gasoline on the fire with FISA activism could potentially have an impact. It also adds to pressure on Speaker Johnson, who's under a lot of fire from Republicans for how badly he's handled this mess.

And even if they do the short-term reauth (which I agree is more likely than not), it's still very much an open question as to what happens next -- it could be anything from GSRA or PLEWSA (with significant reforms) to a straightforward longer-term reauth with minimal reforms as a "compromise" to the odious FFRA (which broadens the scope). So pressure now is also a preparation for the next battle.

@daveley Great question. A rew reasons:

mastodon.social's so big that the Local and Federated timelines aren't very useful.

smaller instances (even if they're not special-interest focused) are more likely to have a good community.

many other instances have "silenced" mastodon.social (because of its long history of moderation issues -- or just because of the volume), so people on other instances are less likely to connect with you.

All that being said, I wasn't trying to say that mastodon.social was terrible - it's the advice that's horrible. It's just that for most people it's not the best place to start.

@fediverse@lemmy.ml @fediverse@kbin.social

@sibrosan Thanks for the explanation!

@Kryostar @fediverse@lemmy.ml @fediverse@kbin.social

@sibrosan The server rules on your server explicitly prohibit transphobia.

So why do you see enforcing the rules by not federating with another server that's got a long history of transphobia as "bias"?

@Kryostar @fediverse@lemmy.ml @fediverse@kbin.social

@sibrosan Like I say, opinions differ.

Why do you think so many trans and queer people -- who are very likely to be directly impacted by transgressions of the rules -- come to a different conclusion and advocate preemptively blocking?

See the "We're here, we're queer" section of https://privacy.thenexus.today/should-the-fediverse-welcome-surveillance-capitalism/#were-here-were-queer for more on that perspective.

@Kryostar @fediverse@lemmy.ml @fediverse@kbin.social

@sibrosan Or, if an instance that's about to launch has a long history of discrimination, hate, violance, abuse, and contributions to genocide, you can announce your intention to defederate from them even before they launch.

Like I said in the post, opinions differ!

@Kryostar @fediverse@lemmy.ml @fediverse@kbin.social

@UngodlyAudrey thanks, glad you liked it!