Eileen Brown ☑️Apr 10, 2017
So my question today is:
How will mastodon be governed? What's to stop the bad guys opening up instances and joining the federation?
Who says that subversive content is not allowed and should be taken off the instance, or banned.
Lots of challenges for a nascent platform I think..
Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ❌​

@eileenb Admins and instances are autonomous. Each can decide what instances they do (or don't) peer with. This isn't unlike other network protocols like email (SMTP) or internet routing (BGP). There are channels for admins to talk to each other (an organisational mailing list), and tools which are built into protocols and servers themselves (Mastodon is only one of several at play).

It's safe to assume bad guys /will/ open instances, or worse, guys or girls who simply don't care what happens.

Apr 10, 2017 at 10:21amWeb
Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ❌​Apr 10, 2017
@eileenb That's not to say there aren't consequences. There are already instances which have (or threatened) to ban others over the actions of a single user. Part of this comes down to how fine-grained tools are for moderation (at both the admin and user level), the challenges of identity and vetting (loose, and a major problem all over IT), the ease with which new instances and users can be created, etc., etc. I /don't/ agree that a total hands-off policy works or is appropriate, unlikke some.
Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ❌​Apr 10, 2017

@eileenb You can also expect that instances (or users) who act in bad faith, or who prove disruptive, /will/ be blocked or retaliated. There's some of that happening now with bots. For all the cries of "Free Speech", if another, or multiple Instances disallow comms with a specific instance, that's going to pressurise the shunned party fairly severely.

On identity: "Who are you?" is the most expensive question in information technology. No matter how you get it wrong, you're screwed.

Show threadEileen Brown ☑️Apr 10, 2017
@dredmorbius I like your points.. a lot :-)
Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ❌​Apr 10, 2017

@eileenb Thanks. I speak only for myself, but I've been 'round the block a few times, seen the inside and the outside.

A flipside of this that might be an interesting angle to consider is the psychological toll on Admins themselves as Shit Gets Realer. Most Instances are small/shoestring operations, and just the hassle of dealing with difficult users (local or remote) can also weigh.

I very much recommend @maiyannah and @MoonMan, OSocial, on this.

Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ❌​Apr 10, 2017

@eileenb I'd also canvas the Mastodon admins, there's a mailing list here:
https://lists.ffdn.org/wws/info/mastodon-admin

(I've also created a bit of an information resource: https://mastodon.cloud/@dredmorbius/34102)

Show threadEileen Brown ☑️Apr 10, 2017
@dredmorbius @MoonMan @maiyannah Thanks, I see an article on this and its impact coming up.. :-)
Show threadEileen Brown ☑️Apr 10, 2017
@dredmorbius yeah - that's what I mean. So if someone on an instance starts tooting in a language that the admin doesn't understand - how will that be governed? Its a huge headache for companies like Twitter and FB - will be even more so here I think...
Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ❌​Apr 10, 2017
@eileenb I /strongly/ expect that there's going to be some translation engine implemented Real Soon Now. There's already support for /specifying/ languages, and instances might decide that they are an X language-zone only, say.
Show threadEric OesterleApr 10, 2017
@eileenb @dredmorbius Offended users will likely flag content and/or reach out to the admin, hopefully with specific reasons and translations. Even without these, an admin can use translation services elsewhere.
Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ❌​Apr 10, 2017
@erico @eileenb True. For context: NY Times comment moderation team averages 800 messages/day each (published stats in the past year). Mastodon admins ... have other responsibilities and/or day jobs. /Not/ having to manually run text through Google Translate would at the least be of use to them.
Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ❌​Apr 10, 2017
@eileenb The reason the "we don't care" attitude sucks is that shunning such an instance will hurt a bunch of innocents -- they become human shields, effectively. My recommendation to the fediverse would be "suck it up and take the hit". Though migration tools would be really, really, really nice to have in that case.