Seth CotlarJan 2, 2023
Get ready for the propaganda initiative in which Mastodon will be labeled a site for “groomers” and “pedophiles.” It’s the least creative messaging imaginable, but you know it’s only a matter of time before we hear it coming from Elon, Fox, Daily Wire, etc. FWIW, Human Events is a right wing rag with roots that stretch back to the Goldwater conservatism of the early 1960s. It was Reagan’s favorite source of information.
Show threadSeth Cotlar
The former Infowars guy behind Macron Leaks and Pizzagate is now on the case. Given his ties with Bannon and Elon’s habit of interacting on friendly terms with him, I’d guess it’s only a matter of time before this becomes “the well known truth” in certain segments of Twitter land. And of course, real journalists will now be forced to discuss this.
Jan 3, 2023 at 12:06amMetatext
Show threadSeth CotlarJan 3, 2023
It’s almost like the entire media strategy of the right is frozen in that developmental stage when you realize if you tell someone to not think of a brown bear, then they’ll think of a brown bear. That, and also the “I know you are but what am I” phase.
Show threadSeth CotlarJan 3, 2023
But wait, there's more. You'll never guess where Truth Social got its source code. That supposed haven of "groomers and pedophiles," Mastodon. https://sites.suffolk.edu/jhtl/2022/02/03/a-mastodon-sized-problem-trumps-truth-social-neglects-to-credit-source-code/
A Mastodon-Sized Problem: Trump’s Truth Social Neglects To Credit Source Code – Journal of High Technology Law

Show threadLaurence TurnerJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar - lol! Knew about this a while ago…
Show threadResident QuokkaJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar That article is 11 months old. How did that legal action go?
Show threadThiago FigueiróJan 3, 2023
@rjmx @sethcotlar it didn’t. From another article: “To avoid a lawsuit, Donald Trump’s social media site is quietly acknowledging the computer code powering the platform comes from Mastodon.”
Show threadResident QuokkaJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar @thiagocsf Thanks. That’s the best way to resolve such things.
Show threadmatlagJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar Ironically, when I got on the Fediverse, I found quite some right wing folks claiming Twitter and other social media were hostile to them and the Fediverse was their safe haven.
Show threadKai NehmJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar https://ansuz.sooke.bc.ca/entry/335
Basically, there are three main universes — Rochko's main branch, pawoo's only legal in Japan content fork and gab/gettr right wing forks.
Those universes are split via domain blocking, truth/gab/gettr could in theory tidy up and federate.
Mastodon WTF timeline - Ansuz - mskala's home page

In the last few days I've been fortunate to witness an interesting chapter in the Internet's history, and I'm trying to compile a timeline of what has happened while the memories are still reasonably fresh. This is incomplete and a work in progress; I'll be updating it, and n...

Ansuz - mskala's home page
Show threadDwight Williams (💉 x9)+😷🇨🇦Jan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar "Frame them so that they literally die of the accusations" seems to be as far as they get, yes?
Show threadCharlie LubandJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar I mean, clearly we all need to go back to the bird site then. (Is that really what they think people will do?)
Show threadSeth CotlarJan 3, 2023
@cluband They never think more than one step ahead. This is just someone having the bright idea to call Mastodon users groomers and pedos to see if it'll stick. Just like if you say the phrase "bamboo ballots" enough you can make it a real thing that maybe happened that then journalists and lawyers have to devote time to disproving.
Show threadedgeoforever 🍎Jan 3, 2023
@cluband @sethcotlar No, they hope to stop the bleeding. Make us less attractive to their intended victims
Show threadjwstarkJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar Estimates are 13% of Twitter content is adult content. https://nypost.com/2022/10/26/porn-crypto-more-popular-on-twitter-as-users-lose-interest-in-fashion-celebrities/amp/
Porn, crypto more popular on Twitter as users lose interest in fashion, celebs: report

Cryptocurrency and “not safe for work” (NSFW) content, which includes nudity and pornography, are reportedly the highest-growing topics of interest.

New York Post
Show threadBarb DybwadJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar Psychological repression is a helluva drug ;)
Show threadLacesJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar
Lol, my one tried and true absolute while on Twitter was that if you've ever RT'd Posebiec, then you're a lying Nazi.
Show threadjwstarkJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar The real funny thing about this is that a huge portion of Twitter is just porn.
Show threadˈdälfən™🐬 💥 🌊Jan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar
Unbelievable
lol… almost laughable if it wasn’t such a serious topic
Show threadDante MercurioJan 3, 2023

@sethcotlar Kind of strange originating from a security publication house given the amount of infosec professionals on Mastodon. Not the writer of this article but some of the contributing authors are on here.

https://medium.com/secjuice/about

About secjuice™ – Medium

Read more about secjuice™. secjuice™ is your daily shot of opinion, analysis & insight from some of the sharpest wits in cybersecurity, information security, network security and OSINT.

Medium
Show threadSeth CotlarJan 3, 2023
@dantemercurio It could be a case of propagandists taking a complicated story and amplifying it in a simplified and self-serving manner. CP and other illegal activities are obviously matters that Mastodon instances will have to be mindful of and so it's worthy of a conversation amongst infosec people, but when it's taken out of that world of informed conversation and into the right wing ecosystem it can be turned into a simple story of "Mastodon = pedophiles."
Show threadkarinchuJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar OFFS.
Show threadRaven LuniJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar Well then every instance should sue individually for defamation
Show threadJohnWJan 3, 2023

@sethcotlar Don't ya just love it? They've never stepped a foot in this place and suddenly they know all about the majority of the content here.

And talk about projection! lol!

Show threadJulie GoldbergJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar I don’t see how anyone could even study this. It’s not a platform. It’s open source software. If I say that 12% of Mastodon use is for explosive knitwear, who could prove me right or wrong?
Show threadRuth Zakarin 🧶🪬😷Jan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar @Julie
I am definitely here on #Mastodon for the explosive knitwear and conspiratorial cat content and I was wondering when someone was going to expose that 🤣
#knitting #cats
Show threadJulie GoldbergJan 3, 2023
@RuthZ The conspiratorial cat is out of the explosive knitting bag!
Show threadAlexander RutholJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar
And a reminder that when alt-righters scream about "child porn" and "pedophiles" they mean gay people, not the contents of the special hidden directory on their phone.
Show threadTransitBikerJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar nope. Ignore the batshit
Show thread🌻 Welcome Back 🌻Jan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar Sounds very familiar. @PBS aired their documentary on McCarthyism last night 🤷. I was surprised so many called him a liar, right away
Show threadedgeoforever 🍎Jan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar “forced”🙄 Poor things, their team is playing dirty!😩
Show threadConfiscated Pillow PhoneJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar Why am I not surprised? They have no new ideas, it's just the same few lies over and over and over and over and over and over and...
Show threadVoronJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar sounds like we need a #lawyer for #mastodon to do a defamation #lawsuit