Andrew CoutsNov 5, 2022

Early worries I have as a journalist using Mastodon for #journalism:

1) Subpoenas & source protection: You're at the mercy of whoever operates your instance. I'm guessing most smaller instance admins aren't also lawyering up to protect newsgathering.

2) The owner of your instance can read your DMs. Be careful.

3) Publishers could effectively verify journalists by running instances from their official domains. They could surveil their journalists there too. Not every publisher is ethical.

Show threadJB EmmonsNov 5, 2022

@couts Excellent points to raise. The fact that DMs aren't encrypted was already a concern to me, but the subpoena issue is arguably a much, much bigger concern for journalists.

Short-term solution: maybe add a note to your profile saying you don't monitor DMs for tips & directing potential sources to a Signal number / alternative encrypted platform.

Show threadAndrew Couts
@IntlLawGnome That's my plan! I need to get a virtual number for Signal tho, as my actual phone number is virtually unusable without being posted on social media haha
Nov 5, 2022 at 9:23pmWeb
Show threadJB EmmonsNov 5, 2022
@couts A $10/yr plan from MySudo to get a number that you ONLY use for Signal is probably one of the easier options. I guess there's always Google Voice, but I think most people with a GV number like to use that for other purposes.
Show threadAndrew CoutsNov 5, 2022
@IntlLawGnome Thanks so much for the tip, I'll definitely check it out.
Show threadVivekaNov 6, 2022
@IntlLawGnome @couts longer term solution: maybe journalists’ professional associations should run instances.
Show threadGeneBeanNov 6, 2022
@IntlLawGnome @couts @Viveka you could skip the number all together and use @session