Have you seen this news?
#Mastodon just got funding to add end to end encryption into their software.
So, some time next year, you’ll be able to send truly private messages to the vast majority of the #Fediverse
Im so excited about this.
Because it’s an open spec, this opens the doors for every Fediverse app to join the party.
Yesterday, this project was a proof of concept. Today, Mastodon has turned it into a stampede.
https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/04/sovereign-tech-agency-funding/
@benpate I'm wondering what the advantage of e2ee private messages on Mastodon is when we have Signal, Matrix and other robust encrypted messaging tools that you could invite a friend to if you want to have a private conversation.
Is anyone worried about this creating moderation issues?
Generally I'm in favor of privacy and security, but I'm just not sure what the value of this feature is on Mastodon. Maybe you or others can provide your perspective on this.
I don’t have all the answers, but I believe there’s a network effect at work.
Signal is fantastic. I use it for lots of things. But it’s “yet another” place to go.
But the Fediverse is my primary place to talk with people (like you)
If you and I could have a truly private follow-on discussion without switching networks, it would be a win for the Fediverse.
Signal also has 50 employees and money in the bank to pay the lawyers.
I'm certainly not a lawyer or expert on this, and I'm sure it varies between legal jurisdictions... but I thought that US law has (some?) liability protections for "common carriers" who pass data but are unable to read it.
Your ISP isn't liable for stuff you download over a secure HTTPS/SSL connection. In theory, the same *should* apply here. But still, someone may try to test it in court.
US law is certainly one jurisdiction, one which routinely compels the sharing of metadata of E2EE users and their conversations, and one which is trying very hard to remove a number of protections currently enjoyed by US-based service providers through legislation such as KOSA and EARN-IT.
Also, social media companies are not common carriers. That's a very different thing (like ISPs, telcos, and railroads.)
Also...
https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/fediverse-near-me_828094#3/25.799891/29.794922
Also, even if I enjoyed all the protections in the world, I am not in the E2EE business.
I am not in the patio installation business.
I am not in the porn business.
I am not in the banana peel recycling business.
I operate a public-facing social networking service for charitable purposes, with various liabilities I have chosen to take on, and various regulatory requirements I have chosen to comply with.
E2EE is not in my mission, nor in my wheelhouse, nor in my business plan.
@jaz @evan @benpate I would add, in regards to 'Signal has 50 employees", that Mastodon does not. And there's a lot of things that need fixing and improving already without having to solve E2EE messaging.
Something, something, resourcing.
But whatever, it is what it is. I'm sure it'll be fine. It just sounds like a lot of work for not a lot of reward. 🙃
@aslakr I can only imagine @evan says "like what?" because he's thinking of the protocol / backend work and not Mastodon as a piece of software with a frontend.
There's so much sub-par public UX in Mastodon, but even more so if you look at the Admin and Moderation panels. A lot needs a rethink.
But this $$$ is not being spent on that. It's 2 backend engineers to work on backend according to the press release.
I just don't see E2EE as a priority for a Mastodon experience.
@matt I say "like what?" because part of what I do for a living now is find problems that are keeping the Fediverse from growing and improving, and then I find money to help fix those problems. Sometimes with technology, sometimes with convening meetings, sometimes with research.
So, knowing what experienced instance operators like you think needs to be done to make the Fediverse bigger and better is a really big deal for me!
@evan There's probably two very different buckets full of 'Things I'd like to improve as a Fediverse admin' and 'Reasons why people don't want to adopt yet another social media site in 2026' and there's little overlap between those two buckets. 😂
Do you publish your findings and research anywhere publicly? I'd be interested in reading along.
For the personal relationships research work I did, it's on my personal blog. There's a video, too.
I agree. I love groups! A lot of great work happening there.
Ben Pate 🤘🏻
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jaz 
Evan Prodromou
Matt
Aslak Raanes
