26 votes

Threads is blocking servers on the Fediverse. Here's how we unblocked ourselves.

19 comments

  1. [16]
    drannex
    Link
    Just a heads up, the creator and maintainer, Alex Gleason, of Soapbox (or Rebased as it was called) is anti-trans and was previously the head of engineering of the Trump-related social network...

    Just a heads up, the creator and maintainer, Alex Gleason, of Soapbox (or Rebased as it was called) is anti-trans and was previously the head of engineering of the Trump-related social network (Truth Social)

    He also worked on Poast, which was a social network for neo-nazis and a direct successor to Kiwi Farms.

    Steer clear of it.

    105 votes
    1. DefiantEmbassy
      Link Parent
      As was pointed on HN, the feminist server mentioned also appears to be a TERF hub. Meta making good decisions with their blocks.

      As was pointed on HN, the feminist server mentioned also appears to be a TERF hub.

      Meta making good decisions with their blocks.

      52 votes
    2. [6]
      sparksbet
      Link Parent
      Yeah as soon as I saw them bemoaning a poor innocent "feminist" instance getting banned I could tell just from the tenor of the complaints that it was an anti-trans instance.

      Yeah as soon as I saw them bemoaning a poor innocent "feminist" instance getting banned I could tell just from the tenor of the complaints that it was an anti-trans instance.

      23 votes
      1. [3]
        boxer_dogs_dance
        Link Parent
        I'm not anywhere near a computer to delete or edit and won't be for a while. All I was thinking about was the technical exploit and the interest people here have in news about alternative social media

        I'm not anywhere near a computer to delete or edit and won't be for a while. All I was thinking about was the technical exploit and the interest people here have in news about alternative social media

        15 votes
        1. drannex
          Link Parent
          No need to delete this, it's an... interesting... work around, but it definitely helps to know why he was needing to implement the workaround. If someone wants to read it without giving clicks for...

          No need to delete this, it's an... interesting... work around, but it definitely helps to know why he was needing to implement the workaround.

          If someone wants to read it without giving clicks for analytics, it's archived here

          37 votes
        2. sparksbet
          Link Parent
          Oh no worries I think the article is still potentially technically interesting and the comments here make it clear that the context is important, I just felt validated by the bad smell I got from...

          Oh no worries I think the article is still potentially technically interesting and the comments here make it clear that the context is important, I just felt validated by the bad smell I got from that description.

          6 votes
      2. [2]
        Habituallytired
        Link Parent
        Is there where all the horrible people that crowded my threads in the last few days has come from? UGH!

        Is there where all the horrible people that crowded my threads in the last few days has come from? UGH!

        6 votes
        1. langis_on
          Link Parent
          It has really been taken over by a bunch of anti-trans takes unfortunately. Very thankful for the block feature. Now I just wish I'd stop seeing "hold the share button for..." posts

          It has really been taken over by a bunch of anti-trans takes unfortunately. Very thankful for the block feature.

          Now I just wish I'd stop seeing "hold the share button for..." posts

          6 votes
    3. [6]
      alp
      Link Parent
      Can't we criticise somebody's opinions on something without immediately dismissing everything else they think a priori? That feels like a bit of a worrying attitude.

      Can't we criticise somebody's opinions on something without immediately dismissing everything else they think a priori? That feels like a bit of a worrying attitude.

      15 votes
      1. [2]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. fefellama
          Link Parent
          Perfect analogy. Why is the onus on us to not dismiss the coin in their garbage heap of beliefs, rather than on them to not have a garbage heap of beliefs in the first place?

          I refuse to waste my time sifting through their garbage heap to find a coin

          Perfect analogy.

          Why is the onus on us to not dismiss the coin in their garbage heap of beliefs, rather than on them to not have a garbage heap of beliefs in the first place?

          29 votes
      2. sparksbet
        Link Parent
        I mean, when a guy posts an article whining about how Threads is defederating from him, it's pretty damn worth noting the hateful shit he participates in since, y'know, that's probably why Threads...

        I mean, when a guy posts an article whining about how Threads is defederating from him, it's pretty damn worth noting the hateful shit he participates in since, y'know, that's probably why Threads is defederating from him.

        Like... not sure how you can leave out the "you're running anti-trans hate groups" aspect when someone is whining about someone blocking their anti-trans hate groups.

        34 votes
      3. petrichor
        Link Parent
        Alex Gleason is a well known bad actor within the Fediverse. Frankly, I've seen him do quite a lot of agenda-pushing in an innocuous guise. He should be ignored. Also, related-unrelated, but the...

        Alex Gleason is a well known bad actor within the Fediverse. Frankly, I've seen him do quite a lot of agenda-pushing in an innocuous guise. He should be ignored.

        Also, related-unrelated, but the description given of Poast cracks me up:

        Poast is a loosely-moderated shitposting community.

        They have a bot that goes around to reachable profiles to spam the n-word. Or maybe it's just one really dedicated guy. Who knows. Anyway, "shitposting community" yeah sure that's a description

        7 votes
      4. Carighan
        Link Parent
        This harkens close to fallacy fallacy, wherein just because the author of this piece is somebody full of bad ideas and lies does not automatically discredit everything they say. If for no other...

        This harkens close to fallacy fallacy, wherein just because the author of this piece is somebody full of bad ideas and lies does not automatically discredit everything they say. If for no other reason than they might have been correct by sheer dumb luck.

        I would however be careful of their opinions. Just because of the strong bias.

        4 votes
      5. bengine
        Link Parent
        The link is still available to read, and this thread is still open so with the added background info from @drannex you can make your own decision about whether it's worth your time and...

        The link is still available to read, and this thread is still open so with the added background info from @drannex you can make your own decision about whether it's worth your time and consideration or not.

        2 votes
    4. kallisti
      Link Parent
      Yeah, Nina Paley is a self-avowed TERF as well, just gotta look at her blog. Interesting how they don't mention that in "things they might have an issue with".

      Yeah, Nina Paley is a self-avowed TERF as well, just gotta look at her blog. Interesting how they don't mention that in "things they might have an issue with".

      6 votes
  2. [3]
    patience_limited
    (edited )
    Link
    As much as I generally appreciate adversarial interoperability, Soapbox might be the case that changes my mind. They're basically circumventing defederation, which is how Fediverse instances block...

    As much as I generally appreciate adversarial interoperability, Soapbox might be the case that changes my mind.

    They're basically circumventing defederation, which is how Fediverse instances block servers that continue to host users who cause unwanted interactions - stalking, harassment, brigading, hate content, etc.

    [And a Fediblock list is basically a community managed blacklist of known hate and spam servers, which provides a reference for server ops who don't want that shit. Example]

    It's fair to ask Threads to publish its blocklist and have an appeal process, given the size and commercialization, but... I'm hard-pressed to think of how proper federation with Soapbox would ever be welcome based on /u/drannex' post.

    19 votes
    1. [2]
      tibpoe
      Link Parent

      Threads is operating in limited federation mode with only about 5 accounts exposed. They cannot see our posts, but we can see theirs.

      5 votes
      1. patience_limited
        Link Parent
        Which simply opens up the game for people who want to spawn new accounts elsewhere for stalking and harassment, and creates whack-a-mole problems for Threads. You have no idea how dedicated and...

        Which simply opens up the game for people who want to spawn new accounts elsewhere for stalking and harassment, and creates whack-a-mole problems for Threads. You have no idea how dedicated and malicious some of the haters are.

        12 votes