this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/7477620

Transitive defederation -- defederating from instances that federate with Threads as well as defederating from Threads -- isn't likely to be an all-or-nothing thing in the free fediverses. Tradeoffs are different for different people and instances. This is one of the strengths of the fediverse, so however much transitive defederation there winds up being, I see it as overall as a positive thing -- although also messy and complicated.

The recommendation here is for instances to consider #TransitiveDefederation: discuss, and decide what to do. I've also got some thoughts on how to have the discussion -- and the strategic aspects.

(Part 7 of Strategies for the free fediverses )

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[–] [email protected] 81 points 11 months ago (7 children)

I can understand defederating from Threads, but transitive defederation is bordering on insanity.

This will do nothing but exert peer pressure onto instances that wish to remain impartial. Transitive defederation will play right into Meta's hands by fragmenting the Fediverse further.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 11 months ago (1 children)

“You’re either with us or you’re against us”

— level-headed, fair-acting groups of people throughout history

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

Only a sith deals in absolutes.

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[–] [email protected] 67 points 11 months ago (7 children)

Yeah, strong arming instances to do something or another based on a personal preference I thought was meta's job, not the fediverses.

The entire point is that each instance should decide for themselves. If they want to defederate with me because I haven't made up my mind yet, then so long I guess, to me that says more about them then it does Meta.

[–] balancedchaos 8 points 11 months ago (11 children)

As long as Meta can't infect the rest of the fediverse, or track or monetize it...fine. I just never, ever want Meta shit on my timeline.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago

How would Meta “infect” anything? Do you really think Meta is producing self-replicating things that jump from person to person?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (7 children)

What sort of "Meta shit" would you possibly expect to appear on your timeline?

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[–] Zak 43 points 11 months ago (5 children)

I understand the argument for servers blocking Threads/Meta. It doesn't strike me as the right choice for every server, but it's clearly a good choice for some servers. Threads doesn't moderate the way many fediverse servers would like their peers to, and Meta is generally an ill-behaved company. Blocking it is appropriate for servers emphasizing protection for vulnerable users, and inappropriate for servers trying to be big and open. The fediverse is great because people can choose what's right for them.

I do not, however understand the argument for blocking servers that do not block Threads and I think the article could be improved with a more thorough explanation. Maybe there's something I'm missing about the mechanics at work here, but isn't one's own server blocking Threads enough to keep Threads users from being able to interact?

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[–] Carighan 39 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (7 children)

I'll be honest, if this gets adopted I'm out.

Most of these ideas are ridiculous in how they desperately build up windmills to handle a surplus of lances among some fediverse users, but this genuinely applies the very thing you - completely out of nowhere - assume Meta would do to what you're doing: EEE.

You're trying to strong-arm users of AP into your modified version usage guidelines for it entirely to suffocate anyone disagreeing.

That's despicable, even as just an idea.

[–] Corvid 12 points 11 months ago

The good news is that none of the large instances are going for these insane policies. Small instances and solo instances can defederate themselves into irrelevance all they want, just like beehaw did.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 11 months ago (5 children)

Splitting the fediverse in half just to get back at Meta is an awful idea.

[–] Carighan 16 points 11 months ago

Plus it wouldn't "get back at" Meta anyways. If their goal is to prevent or defend against some sort of EEE approach (nevermind how little indication their is that that is Meta's motivation for federating), then splitting the target into two smaller groups is perfect. They can easily do something about the one half, then claim that in addition to them, one of the two big camps of the fediverse already supports their new Meta-led protocol, in turn claiming the other half is silly for refusing to adhere to standards.

As in: Don't split the standard into two that are then easier to de-standardize if you are interested in standards.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (18 children)

I'm not so sure that this sort of divisive policy is healthy for the Fediverse. ActivityPub is meant to connect communities, not split them apart. I feel like this is just going to cause even more fragmentation at a time when ActivityPub can really be showing off its capabilities.

I imagine this would dissuade further adoption by other communities.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (4 children)

no thanks. no need to technology a kneejerk reaction to nonexistent problem.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I don’t know. Calling Meta a nonexistent problem sounds naive to me. Sure, something “hasn’t happened (yet)”. Except, it’s Meta … plenty has happened already. How many times are we going to allow selves to be fooled?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 11 months ago (1 children)

im not going to get into this, again, as im sick of asking the same thing and no one ever having a valid response so ill just state it.

theres no technical reason to think meta can overtake the ap protocol and substantially alter it in any appreciable way. that they have a federating server in threads is not some crazy threat unless your own shit becomes dependent on that federation. if it does, its on the instance owner not threads.

as it is, there is zero reason to not federate with threads other than substantial resource use (flooding) and righteous indignation.

i run a public instance, and as soon as threads interferes with it, i will nip that shit in the bud. until then, i plan on providing an offramp for those trapped in metas walled garden.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I don't federate with any instance that openly houses hate groups. Threads houses hate groups.

There's a reason for you.

It may not be enough of a reason for you, but that's a whole different thing to there being "zero reason not to federate"

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

you got the righteous indignation part down pat.

its work to block instances. im not going to operate like that. im treating AP like email. i dont block facebooks SMTP, i dont block Nestle email.. im not going to block their AP.

i am providing assistance to humans wanting to leave the walled garden. you are not capable of that, apparently.

but you do you. thats what its all about.

edit: btw none of this is technical in nature. its just political. i stand by the fact there is no technical reason to not federate.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (6 children)

The fact that you equate vulnerable communities blocking instances that house hate movements that target them with righteous indignation is genuinely scary...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I’m not sure I understand your issue with the term here. “Righteous indignation” word for word means “indignation that’s justified”, so I don’t want to jump to conclusions, and I’m thinking I may be having yet another of my English second language speaker moments.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Indignation implies that it's about being offended or upset.

The specific term you used usually carries an implication of pettiness, and of making a big deal out of nothing. The "righteous" part is normally meant in an ironic or sarcastic way.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

righteous indignation

This is minimising a problem you'd rather not think about or address "too much". For many it's a real problem, both morally or in the abstract, and practically.

Here's a good article outlining an "anti-threads" position (https://erinkissane.com/untangling-threads) that may answer both the "righteous indignation" point and some of your "technical" points too.

All of which gets to arguing that, yes, as my initial reply to you stated, there are "existent" problems and preemptively acting can make sense.

You want to be an off-ramp, and have your finger on the defed button ... that's cool (genuinely)! But dismissing urgency as illogical or something is, I think, out of line.

Your arguments strike me as either dismissive ("zero reason ... righteous indignation"), straw man ("resource use", "overtake the ap protocol") or excuses, frankly ("It's work to block instances" ... threads is like one instance).

  • Avoiding whatever unmoderated garbage threads is like to have (meta has a long track record here) or already has makes a lot of sense.
  • Avoiding assisting their business model makes sense.
  • Avoiding any remote appearance that a giant shitty company, after all of the mega-corp-social shit can still just waltz into a new (and probably fragile) open/free garden without the risk of being shuttered out unless they do everything possible to indicate that they're trying to "be good" this time ... makes sense.
  • Not waiting to find out what "technical" shit they may end up pulling down the line ... makes sense

eg, how sure are you that flow of users between the fedi and Threads will be net positive for the fedi ... how do you know Threads won't actually end up sucking up users from the fedi? How convinced are you that they won't bend the de facto standard usage of the protocol (where mastodon is already doing this) to their own ends and then reform what the "big mainstream" idea of the fediverse actually means to most people?

  • Wanting to send a message that the fedi is done with massive corps and their evil shit ... makes sense.
  • But, also, IMO ... wanting to provide an off-ramp for Threads users also makes sense ... I'm glad to hear your intentions on this.
[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (2 children)

With ActivityPub, Meta is playing on our turf. They don't have home field advantage here. ActivityPub isn't a protocol that they control.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Sure, something “hasn’t happened (yet)”.

Pretty much the definition of a nonexistent problem.

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[–] weeahnn 23 points 11 months ago

I swear to god the conversation around Meta joining the fediverse has been one of the most annoying things I've had to read about in a while.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago (4 children)

We should defederate with any server that has less than 7 degrees of separation with Meta. We can call it the Kevin Bacon rule.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

I just went ahead and defederated with my own brain. This way I never have to worry about Meta sludge ruining my life by existing on my screen.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 months ago

Eh, nah, not as a preemptive thing. If threads users become a problem, then transitive defed is a good option. Otherwise it just makes the whole thing more annoying than it's worth.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Meta disgusts me but i cant lie and say the opportunity that my family may without me pushing much may join the fediverse on threads sounds much nicer then the status quo.

I am all for protecting the fediverse from metas ideas so i do support defediration.

With this transistive tool what happens if i am on my own instance, defederated from meta but i dont the transition and federate with a community that is federated with meta.

Could i see threads from my instance trough the federated one?

Is my own instance safe from meta?

Will transistive defederation mean others will automatically defederate with my instance because i federate with an instance that is federated with threads?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (22 children)

Man just gotta respond to one thing here. I’m not for protecting anyone from any ideas. Better to have an immune system than a sterile environment that requires isolation to maintain.

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[–] capital 11 points 11 months ago

also blocking any instance that federates with an instance hosting harassers and hate groups – provides even stronger protection.

Even safer, unplug your router.

Y’all notice that things always talk about “user safety” and such but never detail just how the NAZIS at Threads will continue to interact with their users when the whole-ass domain is blocked.

This is just another purity test.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago
[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

We really need better visualization tools for who is federated with what. Meta is just one large / recognizable company to pop into the fediverse. Others will move in over time, and if instances choose to do something like this (defed from any instance that didn't also defed), then it's going to be a complete mess trying to figure out who is federated with what. Those smaller defederated instances will need to be extra clear about who they are federated with and why, otherwise people will avoid them.

I personally think this is a bad choice to make, but instances are free to do as they please.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I envision brands creating their own instances that federate with Meta. Then you can get an exclusive Gucci account for some absurd amount of money and use it to flex on the plebs.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It'll potentially just end up like emails (which are also federated, after all), where Gucci employees get an @gucci.com email address and an @gucci.com ActivityPub handle.

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[–] TORFdot0 4 points 11 months ago

I honestly don’t know what my mastodon instance’s take on blocking threads is but I probably will be blocking them on the account level. Blocking servers transitively because they don’t defederate with meta seems like it is unnecessarily siloing servers into a second “free” fediverse. If a server is moderating their accounts in accordance to the written policy then if they choose to federate with meta, it doesn’t feel like it’s any of my business.

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