Hey, I just did a quick browse through the blocked instances list for infosec.pub and have a few questions about it. Seems like we are blocking sh.itjust.works which at first glance just looks like one of the bigger general purpose instances. Meanwhile more overtly problematic instances like lemmygrad (tankie instance) or exploding heads ("free speech extremists") are federated with. Generally the block list seems fairly small compared to a lot of other instances.
So are these intentional choices or is it more a matter of the admins not (having the time to be) bothering with it? If it's not intentional, maybe checking some other instances blocklists to weed out the biggest trolls/offenders could be useful.
You can block problematic users/instances yourself if they bother you. I just blocked all of exploding-heads and haven't seen any of their shit since.
IMO it's not a good solution to just say "just block the bigots". The problem is that for new users, they are going to see those bigoted posts. They're going to either think that's what kind of site Lemmy is and potentially leave, or they'll potentially get pulled in by the bigots. Both are bad situations.
Especially for blatant bigotry, it makes perfect sense to take measures to ensure that the site is safe for everyone by default, without every individual person having to take action (especially those without accounts or not signed in).
So lemmy needs a "soft" block. A system that moderates it out of the default streams, but allows an individual user to still add communities they want to see in their subscriptions.
Only if you use the right apps. Lemmy itself doesn't have any instance blocking for users yet.
Exploadingheads is full of chuds and SJW is too.
I will say it’s nice that this instance isn’t drawing lines along political leanings so I can just block the ones I don’t like to see. I’m not sure what the admins are doing otherwise.
I’m sure the users here will start bubbling up as having more of an appetite for one side or the other and other instances will start defeding from infosec.pub.
Honestly there is so much drama related to federating or defederating that’s it’s killing my interest in Lemmy in general.
In anycase, is anyone running into trouble with lemmygrad or exploading heads being federated? I’ve been reading that folks at hexbear are getting harassed by other Lemmy instances and there are discussions of them going full defederated as a result. I don’t like the views on exploadingheads but so far I just block and move on, so no harm done.
The admins defedded from SJW because of the quantity of CP and other objectionable material coming from there. It was a matter of their modding workload, not anything to do with politics.
The line in this instance is to not use defederation as a political tool, and that is IMO correct. At least that's one of the main reasons I chose this instance.
The line in this instance is to not use defederation as a political tool, and that is IMO correct
That doesn't really mean anything imo. Not defederating is just as much a political decision as defederating is. There's no way around taking some sort of stance, intentional or not.
Of course it means something.
Yes, it is a political decision in the sense that politics pervades all human activities and decisions.
But it is obviously a different choice to that of many instances, where they actively use defederation as a tool to shield their users from any political opinions outside the mainstream.
The admins here have chosen not to use defederation as a tool in this way and I applaud them for it.
shitjustworks was spamming some stuff so it was blocked till further notice. Not sure about lemmygrad and exploding heads, but I also never heard of either nor do I care. If I see bigotry and bs I just block and move on. So far I haven't had to deal with trolls on my page and I don't see the point of the admins blocking whatever unless they're causing real issues like shitjustworks did.
I block them as they come up as problematic. There isn’t a handy list of instances to block like in mastodon. I will block those others.
