Elena Rossini ⁂

An important PSA for people who are active on #Bluesky and who, upon hearing that the ICE account was officially verified, are saying: "I will just block it."

Blocking on Bluesky is NOT PRIVATE: it's very easy to see who is blocking any account by visiting sites that list that information.

I took a screenshot from https://clearsky.app, listing all the accounts that are blocking ICE (I pixelated avatars and usernames for privacy purposes).

The safest bet is to mute (that info is private) 😫

Jan 17 at 7:58amWeb
Show threadElena Rossini ⁂Jan 17

I'm well aware that posting this info on the Fediverse seems like a pointless exercise, but it's to raise awareness and spread the word to people active in BOTH places.

I was never really active on #Bluesky and entirely stopped using it months ago but there's no point in posting this info there because I have zero reach. Or rather: 1100+ followers and 1-2 likes (at best!) and zero comments for any post. It's like I'm shadow-banned.

If you use it and enjoy it no judgement but please be safe!

Show threadhyperrealJan 17
@_elena Good catch! I'll share a link to this post on Bsky.
Show threadVladimir CamposJan 17
@_elena There are many more companies, institutions, news outlets, YouTubers etc. there then here. For example, several EU institutions and politicians are pretty active there. So, I have a few lists and use it as sort of a reader to check the latest news and other information once or twice a day. Mastodon is where I follow and interact with real people, which is what I really enjoy here.
Show threadSaupreiss #Präparat500 🗽Jan 17

@_elena

The very same applies to the Fediverse, by the way: When blocking someone, that information is relayed to the instance where the blocked account is hosted. While this is not typically publicly visible, malicious instances know who blocked some of their members and can of course use that information.

(We internally used the amount of blocks as a hint to which local account to investigate, but it‘s at present not worth the hassle.)

Show threadMarty Heyman at COBOLworxJan 17
@_elena You have friends here.
Show threadWouter 🇳🇱🇧🇷🇧🇪Jan 17
@_elena and maybe sometimes we also need to judge people using fascist platforms.
Show threadctproducedJan 17

@_elena At least for me, I just don't want to see their lies and bias. Having them on a block list does that. It stops them from polluting my feed.

Anyone who thinks that stops the US Government from reading your feed, emails, etc. hasn't read Snowdon.

Show threadDianeJan 18

@_elena

I mean some of us corporate hating anarchists & socialists can pass the information over to our bluesky using friends & family.

Show threadtroiJan 18

@_elena Agreed. Bsky is a much less interactive experience than here on Mastodon/Fediverse. I follow a couple of authors, a few sports sites, and check general news there. But yeah, it's mostly a "read only" environment if you aren't "somebody." I will note that those two authors do read and respond to replies.

I mostly consider Bluesky an "eMuskulated" Twitter and it seems to be replacing Twitter as a place mass media and "somebodies" go to post expecting that everyone is reading along.

Show threaddansupJan 17
@_elena Great advice ❤️
Show threadrandomizedJan 17
@_elena
There is no privacy on bluesky or any other application hosted in US.
US government can request data anytime.
Show threadMathew StormJan 17

@_elena

Damn. Hopefully this gets a wave of people to quit bluesky and join fedi - if ICE was on fedi, the majority of decent instance hosts would just block them outright, so their users wouldn't have to worry.

Show threadToni AittoniemiJan 17
@_elena I wouldn’t use any US service for talking about ICE right now. They’ve got full Palantir coverage on it. Absolutely no doubt on my mind.
Show threadアイアンハンドガンダムJan 17
@_elena can we call it brownshirtsky now?
Show threadZanJan 17
@_elena The fact people use bluesky knowing they were OK Platforming Nazis, Far-Rightists, conspiracy theorists and phobes of various elements was already bad. Knowing people are still using the platform after ICE created an account there says a lot about their userbase.
Show threadkrejgoJan 17
@_elena friends don't let friends use the tools of our oppressors
Show threadAngela ScholderJan 17
@_elena Wow!
Show threadstux⚡️Jan 17

@_elena Everything on Bsky is public

They don’t care about privacy

Show threadMr. Lance E Sloan (IRL) 👤Jan 17
@_elena
It's weird that one's blocks are visible on Bluesky. However, what's so bad if ICE knows one has blocked them?
Show threadJohn KJan 17

@sloanlance
It gives an immediate indication that you might be anti-ICE. Then if they were so inclined they could investigate further, looking for "terroristic" statements or whatever.

@_elena

Show threadPaul BrzeskiJan 17
@_elena If you're outside the United States, make sure to write to your politicians to tell them you don't want your nation's security and immigration working with ICE! Wearing masks and shooting innocent civilians, threatening violence and terrorising the general population, these are not the behaviors of a legitimate law enforcement agency.
Show threadDarth Hideout 🏳️‍🌈Jan 17

@_elena

I blocked the entire bsky.brid.gy instance as well as blocking the bridge bot.

Show threadPrincess Serena Star ✨Jan 17
@_elena this just screams psyop to me (ICE going on bluesky)
Show threadkaliJan 17
@_elena this is pretty stupid lol
Show threadSebastian LasseJan 17

@_elena

strongly disagree;

"The safest bet" is to leave bluesky and create a fedi instance with the software of your choice.

wink smiley.

Show threadJordiJan 17

@_elena @pluralistic I found I had already blocked it through one of the lists I’m subscribed to.

Anyway, blocking the gestapo is the minor or the sins they would find in my TL.

Show threadDon Hawkins - W7DAHJan 17
@_elena the best bet is to delete bluesky.
Show threadStuart Longland (VK4MSL)Jan 17

@_elena Deary me… a certain vice president is NOT popular on that platform.

The 24h list is handy if you want a list of accounts to add to your blocklist. I couldn't care less if they see me blocking them, I'm not one of their citizens and not on their soil.

Show threadmonkee Jan 17
@_elena #Bluesky is a horrible Platform. Everyone please abandon it.
Show threadFluffgar 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Jan 17
@_elena Being outside the US and having no intentions to ever go there, I *have* blocked them.
Show threadMarty Heyman at COBOLworxJan 17
@_elena Good advice. I do the same here. That way it is a private personal choice.
Show threadsalguod, man 🍂🍁 lazysupperJan 17
@_elena
Why tf does it show who blocks a user? Is that a standard feature of bsky?
Show threadderptronJan 17

@lazysupper @_elena I don't really know but it makes sense based on the decentralized nature of the protocol. The block v. mute must be similar to here in that if they're muted I just don't see anything by them but if I block they can't see me either.

To do that in a decentralized system you'd have to get every server that shows your stuff to not show it to them. To do that you have to tell the server that you want that done. This is going to be public info because you want all servers.

Show threadsalguod, man 🍂🍁 lazysupperJan 18
@crazyeddie
Ah, I guess that makes sense. It's just imo showing up as blocked feels antithetical to the purpose, in part, of blocking.
@_elena
Show threadCassandraVertJan 17
Thank you!
Show threadEmilio ʕ̡̢̡ʘ̅͟͜͡ʘ̲̅ʔ̢̡̢🇩🇰Jan 17
@_elena @mayintoronto I deleted BlueSky last Sept it not worth
Show threadI AM BANKSY ☕ / 🗑‍🔥Jan 17
@_elena
What the hell - why would this be public information? Do they WANT to encourage abuse?
@dgoldsmith
Show threadLatte macchiato  Jan 17
@xinit @_elena @dgoldsmith There is a dedicated docs page answering your questions.

https://docs.bsky.app/blog/block-implementation
Why are blocks on Bluesky public? | Bluesky

The technical implementation of public blocks and some possibilities for more privacy preserving block implementations — an area of active research and experimentation.

Show threadCeremusJan 18

@_elena Not that I approve of bsky's design choices, their decision to make blocks public is very crypto-coded. Unsurprising since the designers are basically a bunch of coiners.

But also I'd like to remind everyone that all of your posts, reposts, and likes on social media that are anti-ICE or anti-Trump are also very public. So like, be aware of your threat models, certainly. But let's also be realistic and not worry about the pennies when many of us are visibly carrying many pounds.

Show threadRiverJan 18
@_elena oh..
Show threadrpgwaiterJan 18
@_elena wouldn't you *want* ice to see how unpopular they are? How hated they are? Wouldn't you want people to know that you don't fuck with ice? I feel like I'm missing something
Show threadHaereJan 18
@_elena there are some moderation lists for far right accounts that contain them by now, like https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jagldyome3h27twtp46nxen7/lists/3kkqze5ftwk2h
subscribing to a list like that can block all its users, giving some cover as to why a user has that ICE account blocked
but yeah, bluesky leadership is not doing great at basic social decency 😔
Bluesky

Bluesky Social
Show threadFi 🏳️‍⚧️Jan 18

@_elena
@corbden

I am fully aware of the block vs. mute functionality, and I have blocked them not just for my own convenience reading, but to raise a significant barrier to harassment and protect the people with whom I speak also.

In fact, I subscribe to eva.computer's blocklist for all federal accounts (other than NOAA, NWS, CPSC, and the Federal Reserve) along with thousands of other people, which handled it automatically.

Blocking protects your friends, not just your eyes.

Show threadMartin RuskovJan 18
@_elena you know pixelating is pointless since you explain how to see the original list, don't you.
Show threadFlamJan 18
@_elena so but, what about people living outside of the US? They can happily block ICE all day long without being affected in any way, right?
What would happen if the list of accounts blocking ICE would be flooded with masses of foreign accounts? Just curious ~
Show threadDrew Smirnoff  Jan 18
@_elena idrc if someone can see me blocking ICE. why is this a big deal for people outside of the US?
Show threadmikiJan 18

@_elena This is also true about Mastodon*, but Mastodon actively tries to hide that fact from users and muddy the waters.

* It's technically hidden to users but not the admins of the instances involved, but if you're a gov agency, you're presumably on your own instance, as seems to be the custom here for the "big players."

Show threadChristopher SnowhillJan 19
@_elena Bit too late for me, I'm already subscribed to the "all US official accounts" block list.
Show threadMaximilianBlumJan 19
@_elena ...and another recent reason: #cashtags on #bluesky https://www.heise.de/en/news/Not-the-community-s-wishes-Bluesky-brings-live-stream-display-and-Cashtags-11143599.html
Not the community's wishes: Bluesky brings live stream display and “Cashtags”

Bluesky's latest update brings a live stream indicator and special hashtags for posts about stock markets. Users want something else.

heise online
Show threadMiakoda Feb 4
@_elena Yikes!