If the dramatists really wanted a certain instance to be excluded from the network, they'd be trying to recruit the big Japanese instances to the effort instead of going after mid-sized English-language instances. But there's been not a peep in that direction. Why not?
It's because the message behind the drama campaign becomes (more) obviously ridiculous when translated into Japanese. Without the skill at twisting words to mislead which they have only developed in English, they're lost.
Of course, another reason is simple racism. These people don't really care about "harassment" or "white supremacy" or whatever the latest bugbear is named; they just want status for *themselves* among other English speakers and they don't care what happens among the foreigners.
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@mattskala I was with ya up until the racist comment. I fail to see how that is remotely racist.
@freemo If you really think the network needs to be "protected" from an evil instance, then why only try to protect the English-speaking parts of the network? Why not try to protect the *whole* network, starting with the biggest instances where a block will protect the most people?
First off before I answer let me make clear I dont agree with their stance of blocking instances. I am the admin over at #QOTO and the only time we would block an instance is if it was being intentionally malicious (for example if people open multiple accounts to explicitly circumvent bans without admin intervention).
With that said let me answer your question. Because the people advocating for this are american, the issue with the server is specific to US politics. The people who know about gab and are likely to give a damn are also, likewise, english speaking servers who host americans. Therefore it would make perfect sense why they would focus on these servers rather than Japenese servers that are unlikely to care.
To put it more simply, if you are advocating for a cause it is simple common sense to focus your attention on people most likely to be receptive to your argument.
@freemo You may be right. That is a more charitable interpretation of the campaigners' behaviour than I'm inclined to make. /
@freemo
I think the claimed "safety" problem of failing to block Gab - if real - would apply to Japanese instances just as well as to English instances, and so a duty to recruit instances into "protecting" themselves from this danger does not stop at the language boundary, and attempting to recruit a huge instance would be a good idea even if the chances of success are less than with a smaller instance. But this kind of utilitarian calculation isn't the only way to make the decision.
@mattskala Well it does apply to japanese interests. They arent avoiding the japanese servers because they think the safety concern doesnt apply to them. They just know they will have a much harder time getting them interested in the issue at all, so dont waste the effort.
Hell I'm an admin to QOTO and have not been directly approached by a single person asking me to block GAB. I have seen a TON of posts like that as a general call to action. But none directed specifically at me or any other english instance anyway.
@freemo I'm on mstdn.io, which was approached, and attacked and added to someone's blocklist when the admin refused to join the gab block. This caused enough grief for the admin that although he's keeping the instance up, he announced his personal withdrawal from participating in the network. I'm hoping that decision will be temporary. mstdn.io is one of the largest "small" instances and seems like it fits the profile of an instance that might look like easy prey for an attack.