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 threadveronicatashJan 3, 2023

@sethcotlar looked at the original artivle itis writing about - no claim of a majority of content. In fact, none has been verified at all:

"This instance no doubt hosts very serious child porn content (although again, I can't verify that as there is no way in hell I am looking)."

Seems to be a UK based writer, which may be lucky for them since US law would require they report it to law enforcement or they can be held liable. But they searched for adult content and found a group they say is for pedophiles and they assume a declared support group apparently set up to kerp members from harming people must be posting porn.

https://www.secjuice.com/osint-mastodon-paedophile-csam-child-porn-problem/

It is assumed Mastodon foes not monitor the space.

OSINT: The Mastodon Paedophile Problem

Mastodon has a major paedophile problem, join computer scientist Edward Charles for a closer look at the pedophilic side of the fediverse.

Secjuice
Show threadSeth CotlarJan 3, 2023
@veronicatash Given the other content published by those sites, I’m not at all surprised that they’re just making something up based on vibes and assumptions. Truth is irrelevant to them, as is nuance.
Show threadScott
@sethcotlar @veronicatash the original secjuice source does not seem partisan and there’s a story here but yeah of course these characters are using it in bad faith. seems to not be an English-language thing. This blog post linked in the secjuice article is goes through it in depth: https://ansuz.sooke.bc.ca/entry/335 . At the end of the day mastodon is not one site
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
Jan 3, 2023 at 12:37amWeb
Show threadScottJan 3, 2023
@sethcotlar @veronicatash it seems to be incontrovertible that the 2nd largest mastodon instance (https://instances.social/list/advanced#lang=&allowed=&prohibited=&min-users=500&max-users= ) hosts stuff legal in Japan but illegal in the US. I can’t figure out if mastodon.social has blocked interaction (“defederated”) with that instance, but it of course should.
Mastodon instances

Show threadSeth CotlarJan 3, 2023
@scott96 @veronicatash Definitely should defederate. Like most propaganda campaigns, this one will build off of something that has an element of truth to it in order to paint with a broad brush. No one in their target audience will even know what an "instance" is, all they'll know is "Mastodon is for groomers and pedophiles" and the work of propaganda is complete.