But instances are controllable by the state. That's the entire point, to be the admin of your feudal kingdom that other kingdoms can defederate from, but you still have full control over your instance's content and users.
If you want something that can't be really controlled by the state, you need a platform like Aether.
Online commies are the absolute worst. They made me realize I was an anarchist all along. It's incredible how much time they spend being angry about pointless shit that no one cares about, like people using slurs online. They can't help it but act like tiny dictators whenever they get the chance, by ganging up on anyone who doesn't subscribe to their specific flavor of groupthink. And the thing that irks me the most is that it's not even about left or right. It's not about the poor or the rich, or the means of production, or people being exploited, or anything tangentially related to the economy. It's all social justice. American identity politics. Issues that become less and less tangible the further you get from the anglosphere.
And they live in their echo chambers, and whenever their worldview is challenged they start posting insane takes like "Lemmy being functionally dead is actually good because I can't get offended on behalf of someone else if no one is posting anything"
That's the real power of faith. It makes you delusional