Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Facebook Censored Me For Mentioning Open-Source Social Network Mastodon

changelog.complete.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 304 posts

Re: Facebook Censored Me For Mentioning Open-Source Social Network Mastodon

#111

Post by throwawaysea »

mikeytown2 wrote: post #22

https://joinmastodon.org/ Might as well see what FB is scared about

The big problem I have with Mastodon is that it has a culture of censorship equivalent to Facebook. My recollection is that to be listed in their directory of instances, you need to abide by the content rules created by key Mastodon people, and those instances in turn are required to only peer with other instances that follow the same rules. Those rules basically include moderation based on various progressive political stances, so you can’t honestly discuss controversial topics from different perspectives. It creates a federated network that is still an echo chamber rather than a platform for civil discourse and free thought. And if that’s the case I am not sure why I need Mastodon or why I would lend it attention or credence.

Re: Facebook Censored Me For Mentioning Open-Source Social Network Mastodon

#112

Post by folmar »

LinuxBender wrote: post #83
gargron wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's self-contained by default and as you follow outside users it starts receiving their posts and so on. You don't have to participate in the whole fediverse.

Apologies, I should have worded that differently. As the server admin, can I configure it so that it's impossible to follow someone outside of that server and that server has no outbound network dependencies? My /etc/resolv.conf currently uses options attempts:1 timeout:1 max-inflight:1 nameserver 127.0.0.50 There is nothing listening on 127.0.0.50 and iptables does not permit outbound connections.

Yes, but then it's probably not the best tool for whatever you need.

Re: Facebook Censored Me For Mentioning Open-Source Social Network Mastodon

#113

Post by 5faulker »

Imnimo wrote: post #8

I doubt anyone at Facebook is freaking out about Mastodon and setting out to censor all mention of it. It's probably just a keyword or link that tends to co-appear with other, actually rule-breaking content, and some automated system has learned to block it. Still, it does seem like the sort of thing that could get Facebook in trouble with a regulator if you squint at it.

It's probably an AI thing. When these things occur it's a good idea not to presumptively jumping to attributing to human interference until more evidence surface.

Re: Facebook Censored Me For Mentioning Open-Source Social Network Mastodon

#114

Post by whoknowswhat11 »

Eighth wrote: post #109
whoknowswhat11 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the violation? I'm serious. If I post a link to a target product page on walmart it will be taken down. I'm sure amazon does the same. Do business have to allow you to promote their competitors? Such a weird thing for regulators to be chasing - there seems to be so many more obvious issues than this. Is this a political winner - in other words, does the average person think I can put of Burger King flyers in…

Sounds anti-competitive in the UK. Using dominant market power to censor.

That is a weird UK rule then. In the US the common issues are things like tying, predatory pricing, exclusive dealing, loyalty discounts, bundling etc. Allowing competitors onto your own platform is an unusual requirement in UK I think - I haven't seen a case like that in US but don't follow closely.

Re: Facebook Censored Me For Mentioning Open-Source Social Network Mastodon

#115

Post by LinuxBender »

folmar wrote: post #112
LinuxBender wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apologies, I should have worded that differently. As the server admin, can I configure it so that it's impossible to follow someone outside of that server and that server has no outbound network dependencies? My /etc/resolv.conf currently uses options attempts:1 timeout:1 max-inflight:1 nameserver 127.0.0.50 There is nothing listening on 127.0.0.50 and iptables does not permit outbound connections.

Yes, but then it's probably not the best tool for whatever you need.

Thankyou. Yes I currently use Murmur/Mumble + UnrealIRCd + phpBB for friends. Just exploring options. The UI's of my existing choices are a little dated.

Re: Facebook Censored Me For Mentioning Open-Source Social Network Mastodon

#116

Post by Igelau »

I'd be willing to bet that the phrase "corporate-controlled network" is what set off the censor, and not Mastodon. That more often appears next to links to fake news sites.

On the other hand, the opaque/nonexistent review and appeal process is sleazy and YouTubesque.

Re: Facebook Censored Me For Mentioning Open-Source Social Network Mastodon

#117

Post by whoknowswhat11 »

loeg wrote: post #110
whoknowswhat11 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the violation? I'm serious. If I post a link to a target product page on walmart it will be taken down. I'm sure amazon does the same. Do business have to allow you to promote their competitors? Such a weird thing for regulators to be chasing - there seems to be so many more obvious issues than this. Is this a political winner - in other words, does the average person think I can put of Burger King flyers in…

I doubt Facebook even thinks of Mastodon as a competitor.

No doubt - but there was also a big move of Gab and some other more right wing communities to Mastodon I think at one point - be curious to know if the Mastodon links are all showing as high scoring in whatever generic facebook system is being used. Could easily imagine some involve links to stuff facebook isn't interested in pushing.

Re: Facebook Censored Me For Mentioning Open-Source Social Network Mastodon

#118

Post by uselesscynicism »

chucky_z wrote: post #95
thinkloop wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have personally never heard of, or seen, any scams or malware related to mastadon - aren't you giving too much benefit of the doubt? My best guess is that their lists of competitors to keep an eye on got mixed up with other stuff. Or, of course, that they simply don't want to promote competitors on their platform, which would be normal for any non-monopoly.

There are a number of extremely poorly moderated Mastodon instances with a large amount of hateful and hurtful content. I’d imagine they’re automatically blocking a lot of these sites. Source: I used and helped maintain one of the “don’t federate with these instances” list.

Oh, Fediblock! The list of based instances. It's amazing to me that the people who maintain these lists don't seem to realize that they're maintaining a useful directory for all the people they don't like to help them find places to congregate, meanwhile isolating them from more moderate influences.

Re: Facebook Censored Me For Mentioning Open-Source Social Network Mastodon

#119

Post by zeruch »

Imnimo wrote: post #8

I doubt anyone at Facebook is freaking out about Mastodon and setting out to censor all mention of it. It's probably just a keyword or link that tends to co-appear with other, actually rule-breaking content, and some automated system has learned to block it. Still, it does seem like the sort of thing that could get Facebook in trouble with a regulator if you squint at it.

" it does seem like the sort of thing that could get Facebook in trouble with a regulator if you squint at it."

Oh, I hope so...

Post reply on HN