Greetings!
Who regulates the regulators? Who regulates the #Mastodon admin? The answer, generally, is no one! They can decide to delete your account, without a warning, at a whim (e.g. if they're in a bad mood, etc) If the admin suspends (deletes) your account, that means you can’t move your account to another instance (you have to start a new one). Account suspension prevents you from transferring the "followers" list. That list could be your friends, colleagues, lover, whistle-blower, you name it.
Effectively, there is zero accountability for Mastodon servers! So, when you read posts that say it doesn't matter what Mastodon server you join, that’s misinformation! Ideally, you’d know and trust the admin personally - that’s the most secure way to protect your data (but, not usually practical). Now if you complain, many admins will say, to paraphrase “You can always run your own server!”. Like they think everyone has the time and resources to do so (it’s just their way of avoiding the problems associated with the network)
My previous account was "suspended", without warning and with no written reason given, by the admin of climate justice social (the irony) https://climatejustice.social/@empiricism . I just received an email that said “Account suspended. You can no longer use your account, and your profile and other data are no longer accessible. You can still login to request a backup of your data until the data is fully removed in about 30 days, but we will retain some basic data to prevent you from evading the suspension”
But, as mentioned. You can’t transfer your followers list (effectively, unless you have copied all the followers' addresses – the admin has deleted them!)
I assume the account deletion was because I'd made an accusation public (a private message from the admin), regarding the unfair conduct of ecoevo.social and climatejustice.social admin (they prefer to do their account warnings, etc, behind the scenes. i.e., no public accountability for their decisions). I posted publicly a link to a conversation I had with another person, in which I said that the OP was being prejudiced. In my public post, I linked to the conversation (made it public) that I was being warned of (by the admin). I asked people (the public on Mastodon) what do they think about the conversation? But, before I received any replies, the account was suspended (deleted).
I've asked this before on Mastodon without receiving any reasonable answer. How can anyone trust Mastodon if people can't backup up their own followers' list? There is no agency in the current system. A server could crash, the owner may just decide to close it or run out of money to finance it, etc.
So, this is a security flaw that should be addressed. The only reason I can think of why this security flaw isn’t been addressed (openly talked about with the seriousness it deserves) is that the server owners, don't believe it’s in their interest. However, evidently, it’s in the Mastodon community's interest to have a system in which they can easily back up the follower's list and have some democratic accountability from the admin. Fundamentally, it should not be up to the servers admin to delete a person's followers list (not even Twitter, Facebook, etc, would do that without any warning! Well, maybe they would, I haven’t used those networks in years)
What methods can a user of the #mastodon network use to back up the "followers" list? (since the software developers seem to be against it) The last time I asked this, the reply I received, I assume from an admin was to quote "You can download a copy of your follows list". Evidently, intentionally tried to avoid the question I was asking because I stated the “followers” list.
So, can Mastodon be a better alternative to #Twitter, etc? or is this just lip service? Because business as usual is the money controlling the general flow of information! (& that’s a form of corruption).
For the Fediverse to be decentralized, people will be able to connect to the network without any “middlemen” (that’s a given). So, can we have an adult discussion about what’s best for a social media network? Without it being monopolized and parasitized by the age-old corruption of social power (e.g. money). I doubt it, but…..
#fediverse #corruption or #justice #democracy #accountability #software #technology #climate #sustainability #science #computing #psychology #SocialPsychology #ethics #business #money #AntiRacism #ClimateJustice #twitter #corporations #DarkMoney
