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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[–] HKayn@dormi.zone 66 points 10 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.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 34 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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

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

[–] RIPandTERROR@sh.itjust.works 5 points 10 months ago

Only a sith deals in absolutes.

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[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 61 points 10 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@lemmy.world 8 points 10 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.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 12 points 10 months ago

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

[–] Chozo@kbin.social 4 points 10 months ago (7 children)

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

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[–] Carighan@lemmy.world 39 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 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@lemmy.world 12 points 10 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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[–] DumbAceDragon@sh.itjust.works 36 points 10 months ago (5 children)

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

[–] Carighan@lemmy.world 16 points 10 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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[–] Zak@lemmy.world 35 points 10 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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[–] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 26 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)

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

[–] maegul@lemmy.ml 5 points 10 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?

[–] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 18 points 10 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.

[–] ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 10 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"

[–] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 13 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 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.

[–] ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 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...

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 4 points 10 months ago (4 children)

What can a hate group do when Meta’s federated to an instance with vulnerable people in it, that they can’t do when Meta’s not federated with that instance?

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[–] Chozo@kbin.social 7 points 10 months ago (1 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.

[–] maegul@lemmy.ml 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I mean, for now.

Mastodon, through its dominance is already shaping what the protocol is and isn't. For instance, the Server to Client API that mastodon runs is of its own making and design and just about every microblogging app relies on it such that any other platform tries to mimic it. It's become a de facto standard. Should mastodon change their API, many other platforms will feel compelled to follow suit. There are now voices calling for it to be standardised. BUT ... talk to people working on the actual protocol and they'll say they hate this because the protocol already has a standard for this and it should be used instead ... and app developers will basically say "well, everyone is using the mastodon API already ... why would I use this thing no one knows about".

Threads/Meta can do exactly the same thing over time. And once they have control over how some parts of the fediverse operate, which they will have by having "the standard" and the dominance of users to force people to comply ... then they can influence what is and isn't in the standard to suit their purposes (think surveillance and ads) and even add things that only work on Threads, which of course will presumably attract more users (as Threads is already huge).

More abstractly ... "our turf" here isn't the protocol. The protocol is over-emphasised as some magic element that makes everything here work. It's just a tool. The stuff that actually makes the fediverse work are all of the software platforms, such as Lemmy and Mastodon, that provide the actual social media we use. And they just use the protocol. It's the quality and design choices of these platforms that are "our turf", and these depend very much on the developers and the users and their motivations/desires. Threads is big enough that it can distort the network of motivations. An example ... There's a mastodon mobile app (Mammoth) that is the only one to implement a recommendation/algorithmic feed. One of their key motivations (they've stated so publicly) is to be ready for when Threads joins the fediverse so that their app can attract Threads users. They also run their own mastodon instance, which I can only presume they'd be happy to modify with their own features.

Another way they can exert influence is through altering the way moderation affects the fediverse. Moderating what comes through from Threads is likely to be onerous. It alone will be a reason for some instances defederating. But some instances will want to stay connected to the large userbase of Threads, and will tolerate some of the garbage coming through. The net effect will be to splinter the fediverse between those that can't and those that can tolerate a lower average quality of user/content. Such a hard splintering wouldn't occur if all of those users were spread out amongst more instances instead of coming from a single source/instance whose size alone attracts disproportionate interest and gravity (to the point that this discussion happens again and again).

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[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 5 points 10 months ago (3 children)

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

Pretty much the definition of a nonexistent problem.

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[–] weeahnn@lemmy.world 23 points 10 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.

[–] Chozo@kbin.social 22 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (14 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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[–] fhqwgads@possumpat.io 15 points 10 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.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 5 points 10 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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[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 13 points 10 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.

[–] webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 11 points 10 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?

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 4 points 10 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@lemmy.world 11 points 10 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.

[–] kariboka@bolha.forum 10 points 10 months ago
[–] ____@infosec.pub 4 points 10 months ago

While my primary masto is a single user instance, basically anywhere else I exist on the fedi is a subset of infosec dot *.

Those instances are all run by someone who a) is cool with spinning up a whole bunch of instances, b) is willing to risk the costs, and c) is excellent at delineating policy. There’s a “no fucking threads full stop” instance, and a “no threads by default, but user can flip switch” instance, for example.

That’s a method of operation that works from my pov but doesn’t suit everyone’s needs. Personally, I want nothing to do with threads but am more able to express my anti corp tendencies than I was in my twenties, and I’m more willing to accept that “it’s just bandwidth, find the instance that meets your needs.”

My needs involve no threads at all, but I can accomplish that with a very small amount of effort given. My circles.

[–] TORFdot0@lemmy.world 4 points 10 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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