mekka okereke May 31, 2024

@ddritter

Twitter:
*I make a post at 9am and go about my day
*A racist replies with racial slurs at 9:15am
*Everyone sees the racist replies
*Everyone reports the racist replies
*Twitter mods take it down by 10am
*I check Twitter again at 11am, and never even see the racism!

Masto:
*I post at 9am
*Racists reply in such a way that only me, them and their followers, see the racism
*So no one reports it
*Everyone gaslights me with "I don't see racism here!"

https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/111012743709881062

mekka okereke :verified: (@[email protected])

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] From your screenshot above, and the scenario I listed below, imagine if: 1) the racist user is on "Nazis dot social." They have 5000 followers. 2) the Black user is on "Good people dot social" 3) the nazi replies "Followers only." The scenario: https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/111010421955145872 None of the good people would see the gore images, or the subsequent pile-on.

Hachyderm.io
Show threadColes Street Pothole

@mekkaokereke @ddritter
Thank you! 🙏 This is the best, most concise explanation of how Mastodon's reply filters—which are meant to be a form of protection—can actually be weaponized to enable racist abuse.

See that third option below, "Followers only"? Someone with a bunch of racist followers could reply with racist abuse and only the victim and the racists see it.

Aug 2, 2024 at 6:20pmWeb
Show threadRachel GreenhamAug 2, 2024

@ColesStreetPothole @mekkaokereke @ddritter @benroyce if that's the behaviour it's also misnamed. Followers only should *mean* followers only.

i want to think it's a bug. because it's mis-named, as if the mismatch between name and function isn't deliberate. Maybe submit it as a simple bug report on that basis. 😅

Show threadᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIESAug 2, 2024

@StrangeNoises @ColesStreetPothole @mekkaokereke @ddritter

it's because the person replied to is mentioned in the post. if you're mentioned, you can see any post, no matter how marked

Show threadColes Street PotholeAug 2, 2024
@benroyce @StrangeNoises @mekkaokereke @ddritter Yep, person replied to sees it, and all the replier's followers. In a nice world, that's a nice feature, but we don't live in a nice world.
Show threadMatthewAug 4, 2024

@ColesStreetPothole
@mekkaokereke @ddritter @bytebro

They can send a DM and then block you after you read it. The messages all then disappear!

Show threadBytebro 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇬🇱Aug 4, 2024

@mrblissett @ColesStreetPothole @mekkaokereke @ddritter That doesn't stop the initial insult spew. Yes, *then* one can block/report them.

I now fedi is kind of a work-in-progress, but for the sake of all participants, it needs to get a bit better at this stuff.