Daniel SchumanNov 5, 2022

Hey everyone, I'm building a list of congressional offices on Mastodon -- members of the House and Senate, committees, leadership offices, and non-partisan offices.

If you know of a member of congress that is on mastodon, please add them to the list, here: bit.ly/CongMastoForm

If you want to see who we have found so far, check out https://bit.ly/MastoCong

Thank you! Please help amplify to crowdsource the list.

Show threadMarci HarrisNov 7, 2022
@danielschuman looks like @tedlieu is on? (But not active)
Show threadDaniel SchumanNov 7, 2022
@marcidale @tedlieu Thank you! I will add to my list. I had checked him yesterday and didn't see him.
Show threadDaniel SchumanNov 7, 2022
@marcidale He also provides a possible lead for one more.
Show threadDaniel SchumanNov 7, 2022
@marcidale I think -- I think -- for the politicos, there's going to have to be some sort of a blue check at some point, or its equivalent.
Show threadMarci HarrisNov 7, 2022

@danielschuman but who will authenticate? (Basically asking if we’re starting an instance? I assume you are already thinking about it 😉)

Would be so much better if house or senate or even some meta .gov took this on, but am not optimistic that will happen anytime soon… but maybe?

Plus first amendment issues if started/hosted by gov.. so maybe outside party is better idk

Show threadDaniel SchumanNov 7, 2022

@marcidale Yes, correct.

1/ I've been thinking about either (a) starting my own instance, or (b) having the House and Senate start their own. I have emails out on the latter.

2/ Been thinking through the lessons learned from "let our congress tweet."

3/ I've scouted some domains. But I also (a) don't want to be responsible for this, and (b) don't want to pay for it. (c) Don't want someone irresponsible to do it.

4/ Tomorrows' newsletter gets into this- and a bunch of other really fun stuff.

Show threadMarci HarrisNov 7, 2022

@danielschuman I look forward to reading!

& yes to all of the considerations above (+ really messy first amendment public forum issues if official)

Show threadDaniel SchumanNov 7, 2022
@marcidale I'm less worried about first amendment and more worried about efforts to get DMs through subpoenas, usage logs, etc.
Show threadTom LeeNov 7, 2022
@danielschuman @marcidale I’m still a mastodon noob but what I’ve read makes it sound like an instance could be configured to just have DMs disabled (and delete any incoming ones immediately). Might be the simplest way around this problem.
Show threadDaniel SchumanNov 7, 2022
@tjl @marcidale It would address the subpoena problem. It may not address the "what the logged in IP address at the time of a toot" issue, for example. Why anyone would care? I'm not entirely sure, but counsel will probably think about that kind of issue.
Show threadTom Lee

@danielschuman @marcidale a good point. I suspect that kind of logging could also be within an instance owner’s control. But your implication that this wouldn’t be simple seems right.

otoh knowing the enthusiasms of fediverse boosters, I wouldn’t be shocked if a privacy-maximalist instance config was already floating around out there in some form

Nov 7, 2022 at 3:14amMastodon for iOS
Show threadDaniel SchumanNov 7, 2022

@tjl @marcidale You may be right about a privacy maximalist version.

It might not even be necessary, so long as the holder of the instance has agreed/ was under legal obligation to pass all subpoena requests to the House and Senate for intervention.