mekka okereke Nov 22, 2022

So I've moved!

I live at hachyderm.io now. Unfortunately, I can't recommend mastodon.cloud anymore. The typical user might not be able to navigate what I did. I'll explain in the next post behind a Content Warning, because it's not nice.

But new neighbours, what's good! 🙋🏿‍♂️

Show threadmekka okereke Nov 22, 2022

My account started getting a lot of targeted racist abuse and death threats. Typical 4ch*n stuff: N-word, kill, hang, H*tler, etc. I'm a Black dude on the internet, so I've seen it all before. It's just annoying.

So I reported about 20 of them. No response. This is the flip side of what I thought was good about Mastodon.cloud: That the mods don't moderate Black folk for talking about racism. The downside of very hands off moderation is inaction.

Show threadmekka okereke Nov 22, 2022
So I noticed that most of the posts were from an instance called "poa (dot) st" I know what poasting is, so figured I would block the instance. The app I'm using doesn't support instance blocking, so I headed to the site. Before I did that though, I checked my instances blocked servers, and didn't see a very long list. Then I checked hachyderm's about page and saw that "poa (dot) st" is already blocked, along with a long list of other nonsense.👍🏿
Show threadmekka okereke Nov 22, 2022

I'd been thinking of moving to Hachyderm anyway, as many of my friends (and people I only know slightly, but respect greatly) are already here. I'm curious to see if the local timeline will become usable for me.

But I don't think a casual social user should be expected to navigate what I did.

Also weird, because of how Mastodon works, no one else sees the racist abuse directed at a user. It doesn't show up in the local timeline, or in search.

Show threadnyznNov 22, 2022
@mekkaokereke Just went back to review joinmastodon.org and although it says that all the suggested servers are signed up to the Mastodon Server Covenant and committed to active moderation against racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia, I couldn't find any information about how that is enforced.
Show threadnyzn
@mekkaokereke There's no pointer to how to report or complain about a server that isn't moderating as promised, and no further information about what "active moderation" is supposed to include. Maybe that's a good place for us to push for improvement?
Nov 22, 2022 at 12:45pmWeb
Show threadNatanael ⚠️Nov 22, 2022
@nyzn @mekkaokereke the tools for enforcement involves muting and defederating (blocking) servers that won't comply, but enforcement is not always quick and it can has its limits.
Show threadnyznNov 22, 2022
@Natanael_L @mekkaokereke It seems to me that there should be a higher standard required and enforced for servers to be listed on joinmastodon, separate from the muting and defederating of outlaw servers. Especially as joinmastodon presents its server list as if that is the case, but does not seem to be living up to its promise.
Show threadnyznNov 22, 2022
@Natanael_L @mekkaokereke Personally I would support requiring all the servers listed on joinmastodon to participate actively in something like Block Party. We should prioritise a safe landing place for newcomers, and let people who find it too restrictive be the ones to move servers.