Dave Alvarado1d ago

How (racist/sexist/whatever) harassment on Mastodon works:

1. Harasser replies to their target's post, with the reply set to "followers only", saying the most vile stuff you can imagine.

2. All the harasser's followers join in on the harassment, posting more vile stuff.

3. Nobody but the target and the harassment crew can see the vile stuff that was said.

4. Target is traumatized. Nobody else can see why.

5. Everybody says "I don't see it so it's not happening."

https://community.hachyderm.io/blog/2024/08/12/hachyderms-introduction-to-mastodon-moderation-part-1/

Hachyderm's Introduction to Mastodon Moderation: Part 1

The first post in a series about Mastodon moderation tooling. This post focuses on context for the upcoming posts.

Hachyderm Community
Show threadDave Alvarado1d ago
If you're a white person on the Fediverse and you've never seen someone called a slur, or threats made against them--congratulations! You don't follow any dirtbags. But, it's happening every day and it's being hidden from you.
Show threadDave Alvarado1d ago

"But Dave, why don't they moderate?"

They do. The harassers spin up new instances to get around block lists.

"But Dave, why don't they show the receipts?"

The brave ones do, when they have the energy. It invites a huge amount more harassment, so showing receipts *always* causes psychological damage.

Some folks are willing to tank that damage to get the word out. Most people understandably just want it to stop.

Show threadSemitones
@dave Is there a shit mastodon says account yet? Maybe people could anonymously shame the harassers by messaging screenshots and posting them that way.
Mar 20 at 4:57amWeb
Show threadAzure is tired of lying in bed1d ago
@semitones @dave the harassers know where the Screenshots come from. They were part of the "interaction".
Show threadCatherine is not complacent1d ago
@semitones @dave harrassers have no shame. They prefer anonymity because they hate repercussions in the real world.
Show threadBoerps ☑️1d ago
@semitones @dave
Willst Du den Scheixx noch verbreiten? Dann ist das hier bald wie X.
Und ein Pranger gehört ins Mittelalter.