@design_RG Elections are something people get very engaged in, they tend to really care aobut the outcomes.

We will likely get some bots trying to push or sell a campaign/candidate. But I'd imagine most people will just be ordinary users who really care about discussing the election and want to push for their side. As long as they are a real user with STEM interests I have no trouble with that.

Certainly True though that Trump doesnt only have the moral high ground over Biden but the financial campaign funding superiority too. Biden wouldnt stand a chance even with equal funding, but with Trumps level of campaign funding, even less so.

Lets just hope that funding doesnt equate to mastodon bots.

@freemo I have already mentioned what I see as a Propaganda account, and I think it will only get worse.

To keep our sanity and our civility, plus the content the instance aims for, I suggest we need to plan and react quickly if this kind of user account (non-participating, partisan, adversarial, and completely alienated from STEM field or topics) pop up.

I would like a clear line - like we have for Advertsing, account removed immediately upon staff discretion. Reports to be kept, logs as usual, as we will respond for our actions as usual.

Propaganda is Advertising to the nth degree. Goebbels was the master mind of much we see nowadays.

@design_RG did you point out any examples of a propaganda account, if so I may have missed that.

Though i think the keyword in what you just said is "non-participating".. if someone posts content of any kind but otherwise does not participate in (doesnt respond to comments, doesnt comment on other peoples content) then I'd argue they are a account that auto-posts which is already against our rules. the other points listed are not as relevant at that point.

Even a person just posting about how awesome ice cream is, if they are a non-participating account it would get moderator action.

@freemo I did mention a specific account in our chain of DM discussions, and started a Discourse thread for this here : https://discourse.qoto.org/t/suggestion-extending-advertising-non-allowance-policy-to-encompass-political-propaganda-posts/214

...where the specific account is not named, but I can provide that easily; didn't include it as we need a general discussion and policy, but I do see this already present here. Arteteco is contacting that specific user and inquiring.

@design_RG Ahh i missed that post, ill read it.

Is this regarding that conspiracy theory guy who was posting? I didnt really see him as a propaganda account, per se.. he seemed to be largely about conspiracy theory nonsense, which tends to go hand in hand with anti-STEM people. Which was the part of that account that concerned me.

I'll respond on discourse tot he more generalized discussion though.

@freemo @design_RG „Conspiracy theorist“... I wish a much larger proportion of the population had critical thinking skills and research skills. This is the reason why the nazi regime in germany came to power, we all know the consequences.

@Mustang3x11 @freemo
I happen to be interested and have done reading in that period, Mustang. Care to extend your reasoning?

@freemo @design_RG
Exactly this is why i left Twitter... Bots, censure, and politics oriented. Looks i’ll have to find another network.

@Mustang3x11 @freemo

In the Fediverse (which includes a lot more than Mastodon instances), there are a lot of options - you can find instances that choose to limit certain kinds of content, or mandate that it be hidden under a "Content Warning" - so its content is hidden unless a user specifically clicks on a post to see it.

Something like "CW : USpol" for example.

In some instances this is mandatory and enforced. In some others, this kind of topic (or any others that the staff deem controversial or unacceptable) are banned all together as a way to preserve their local focus, etc.

The less censorship a user wants, the more crap they will see crossing their feeds, but there are MANY choices available.

@gawrsh The DNC secure it for him, trump never even needed to try

@freemo Yes it was too easy for him. The DNC is utter trash, worse than the Repubs imo. Not even the GOP stood in the way of Trump's nomination in 2016 and recognized his popularity enough to respect their constituent's choice. Not the donkeys though. And Trump is so easy to beat! They chose to lose to Trump than win with Bernie 🤦🏻‍♀️

@gawrsh yea I think last election bernie would have won against him.. Though I'd say in this election Bernie wouldnt have had a good chance this time around honestly.. He lost a lot of his support when hje endorsed the DND and hillary, prior to that a lo tof his support was because he is third party.

@freemo Thats true. They cheated him out the Super Tuesday primaries. I dont think he realizes how bad of a decision he made cowtowing to dems. He shed rivers of support in the past few months alone. Fck that I'm sticking to 3rd party all the way

@gawrsh I have yet to see a good third party step forward this season either. I remain hopefully a third party option shows up.

@freemo I had hoped for Jesse Ventura would run this year under the Green party ticket but he waited til after Bernie endorsed Biden to seek the party nomination. It was too late into their primary and he couldnt. They have a weak frontrunner this yr unfortunately so I know Trump will win. I'm still voting Green to help them reach 5% of the vote total for 2024 ballot access