Ralf RottmannNov 2, 2022
I read this elsewhere: If trusted news outlets would start offering #Mastodon instances to their staff, that would bring some sort of verification and visibility. Think social.nytimes.com, social.heise.de etc. I'd love to read more from trusted journalists on the #fediverse and this could greatly help. (Again, not my idea but couldn't find the original author.) Boosts for visibility would be great. Reminder: Favorites don't help as on this other platform.
Show threadMartijnNov 2, 2022
@ralf alternatively, media sources could issue Verified Credentials, which Mastodon could integrate:
https://verifiablecredentials.dev/
Verifiable Credentials

Verifiable Credentials shaping the future of identity.

Verifiable Credentials
Show threadEvelyn fra denne andre øyaNov 3, 2022
@martijnarts @ralf Why? If you want linkedin then go there.
Show threadMartijnNov 3, 2022
@evelyn @ralf not sure how this is much different from the existing domain name ownership verification that Mastodon already does.
There are plenty good reasons to have verified claims integrated into the platform. Verified Credentials allows federating (decentralizing) the verification. Seems perfect for Mastodon?
Show threadEvelyn fra denne andre øyaNov 3, 2022
@martijnarts @ralf What purpose does this verification actually serve? The example outlined here seems hardly that useful for ordinary people, but massively useful for organisations. I would prefer not to see the fediverse being commercialised, this has ruined enough places online.
Show threadMartijnNov 3, 2022
@evelyn @ralf the website is the best description I've found of VC, but is commercial. VC could be used for any type of claim (not just ID cards and stuff). For example, a whistleblower support org could give out VCs to whistleblowers that says "Whistleblower Help Foundation verifies that the person that owns @[email protected] has worked at the DOD as an Analyst" or whatever. Using the VC format Mastodon could then display that nicely and help users understand whether or not to trust this claim.
Show threadMartijnNov 3, 2022
@evelyn @ralf Mastodon servers could even start configuring their web of trust, which could then be displayed. You could show "Whistleblower Support is verified by Independent Whistleblowers Intl which is verified by the Dutch govt which is trusted by Mastodon.social"
Show threadEvelyn fra denne andre øyaNov 3, 2022
@martijnarts @ralf mastodon.social has notoriously inadequate moderation, I'm not sure why anyone should trust any assertion it makes, and I'm also not sure what mechanism you're proposing for that assertion, since federation is based on a specified standard, and not the whims of twitter users.
Show threadMartijnNov 3, 2022
@evelyn @ralf well your local server could provide their own assertions, I was just using mastodon.social as an example here. You probably wouldn't display assertions from other servers.
Show threadMartijnNov 3, 2022
@evelyn @ralf also there are existing standards that define these web of trust assertions, so could just use that. Not sure what you're referring to with the whims of twitter users?
Show threadEvelyn fra denne andre øyaNov 3, 2022
@martijnarts @ralf Fediverse works on activitypub, how would web of trust verification federate over it?
Show threadMartijn

@evelyn my best idea is to separately federate it using some enhanced version of PGP keyservers.

(Separating this out makes sense because not every verifying org should also need to be a social network.)

Nov 3, 2022 at 1:09pmWeb
Show threadNatanael ⚠️Nov 4, 2022
@martijnarts @evelyn keyoxide exists and uses signed assertions