@swiley Its pretty absurd the levels blocking has gotten. Usually its done under threat as many people demand you block a laundry list of instances lest be blocked.. it snowballs quick where instances wind up blocking instances just not to get blocked by what few instances can still see them. Its why we are so resistance to going down that very slippery slope here.
It seems to be a pretty big portion, and sadly there are very few instances that have local moderation rules and a polite environment but themselves are not block happy. Its so rare in fact that its been the main attractive feature QOTO presents to new users in my expiernce.
@freemo
> Its so rare in fact that its been the main attractive feature QOTO presents to new users in my expiernce.
it was one of the main reasons i've joined here. i have some years ago created an account at another server but never used it really.
when deciding to really invest some time into the fediverse, i looked at their block list, half of the blocks were because of "free speech". unsurprisingly, unsavory posts about right-wing people or the police were no problem on that instance. while any instance is free to block whomever they want to, it's a shame that so many people fall for the doublethink.
i get why people want a "safe haven" where they don't have to deal with ugly real life shit. a closed web forum might be better than a federated microblogging protocol for that though.
@pants
@bonifartius @freemo @swiley
We are talking about two different phenomena outside of server moderation:
1. Instances coercing other instances to block based on their preferences.
2. Instances making choices for their users regarding other instances.
If a user wants to block someone or an entire domain, they are free to do so as is. Why should someone make that choice for them?
Also, oppression is not a black and white affair. You can't sort the world, or Fediverse into oppressed and oppressor, get rid of the latter, and expect everything to suddenly be golden from then on out.