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.
@jaz @benpate @earth_walker Signal is also a centralized service controlled by a very few people with the ability to be blocked and cut off easily.
I don't see E2EE fedi as competition for Signal, it's just a way to ensure comms are at least somewhat protected. Is there something complex about the implementation that makes you feel you are operating a E2EE service beyond the fact that Masto servers already do that via TLS?
@reflex @benpate @earth_walker
I'm not trying to be snide here, I mean this very literally.
I don't know what I don't know about operating an E2EE, patio, porn, or recycling business. All I know is they are all regulated, require licensing, insurance, have wildly different requirements in different jurisdictions.
I've done the work for operating social media services.
I have no intention of doing the work for any of the other services listed.
(Export controls come to mind though.)
@jaz @benpate @earth_walker I understand you do not know, but my point is if you are operating a mastodon instance, and you are connecting users via https, you are already operating a E2EE service. That is what https is (via TLS, used to be SSL). You do not need to know more to have your messaging be E2EE within the instance unless they have done something very wrong with the masto instance.
It's an international standard, the concerns you have can be raised, but likely are not valid.
@jaz @benpate @earth_walker HTTPS is E2EE between the server (instance) and client (app/browser/etc). It ensures data in transit cannot be intercepted easily. E2EE messaging is the same thing but user to user, essentially keeping the data invisible to the server (instance). Same principle. It's commonly used and typically invisible to the admin.
It does not block screenshots, reporting mechanisms will still be valid.
Again, assuming this implementation does not do something weird.
@reflex @benpate @earth_walker I believe you may be underestimating my understanding of and experience with internetworking including the network and transport layers, but I'll just say that encryption in transit is not end to end , and the simple fact that I can moderate user-to-user (end to end) content on my service expressly informs that fact.
Let me put it another way, I have no intention of operating an unmoderatable community service.
@jaz @benpate @earth_walker To be clear, your line is one that leaves users vulnerable to malicious admins. I am unclear how it hinders moderation since again, screenshots are a thing.
Also referring people to a separate centralized service that cannot be simply moved out of a hostile jurisdiction and is easily blocked is not ideal.
@jaz @benpate @earth_walker Nobody is disabusing you, but your concerns are mostly FUD, like I said we already do those things in other aspects.
Nothing else to say I guess.
@reflex @benpate @earth_walker
Moderation is hard.
Moderation tooling for E2EE is hard.
Plenty of other other people can, should, and will take this on. I will not be one of them.
@jaz @benpate @earth_walker You have some real issues, Jaz. This was inappropriate. I never attacked you or put words in your mouth to make any point.
At the end of the day trust and safety includes safety from instance admins.
All you've done here is demonstrate a failure in leadership.
As someone who’s completely in favor of E2EE and is literally building it into ActivityPub right now..
This is a perfectly reasonable point. E2EE is not for everybody or every server.
Honestly, I’m not sure if I’ll allow it in the servers that I run (bandwagon.fm, etc)
Maybe just for myself? Maybe paid accounts only? Probably not for free signups though.
There are valid reasons to enable this, and not to enable this. It must be opt-in for everyone involved.
@benpate @earth_walker I'm removing Jaz due to abuse.
However the problem here is that regular people just assume comms are private. We even call them "Private mentions" by default on masto. Obviously people should not assume that, but they do. Education is not a real solution, especially when the name is so misleading.
IMO the UI and UX should match, and both should be geared towards default user assumptions. Only Security pros assume otherwise on these things.
"Individual mentions"
Yup. Explaining the ins and outs of tech to regular people is hard. I *think* there's a warning on the Mastodon web app, but that doesn't carry through to the app I use on my phone.
re: UI and UX should match. 100% agree.
But E2EE isn't for everyone, or every server. And it's important to make the tradeoffs as clear as possible to regular people using regular language.
When I get there, I'll post screenshots of my balancing act. I'd love to hear what you think :)
Yup. The current notifications UX on Mastodon is not great.
Fortunately, they know it. I can't speak for their plans or timelines, but I know that they've been considering ways to change it.
It's a thorny topic, especially for a huge system with millions of distributed users.
My hope (completely made up by me) is that this E2EE project gives them an opportunity to revisit notifications in general.
I have confidence in the Mastodon team to make something fantastic :)
Ben Pate 🤘🏻
senna.apk
jaz 
David Fleetwood - RG Admin