We’ve had a tremendously busy first quarter, too much too fit in a newsletter, so here’s the roundup of what’s been happening these past few months.
Content Classification System
This is the biggest project we have underway: build an opt-in, privacy-preserving CSAM detection and reporting system to help protect the Fediverse. We are halfway through our initial buildout, which will allow server operators to optionally send their media to IFTAS for hash and match detection using the Safer platform from Thorn. No media leaves IFTAS, and if we get a pertinent match we take care of the necessary reporting. This one’s a complex activity, but we are working our way through and hope to have more on this soon.
We’ve set aside funds to pay active moderators a monthly stipend for their guidance and input on our activities, and we are extremely pleased to announce our initial cohort has been onboarded and the first payments went out for March. This group is tasked with reviewing our our products and services, and ensuring a broad range of voices are heard throughout the process. You can review our Moderator Advisory Panel on the About Us page, welcome to everyone who stepped up to help guide this work and thank you for your participation!
FediCheck / CARIAD
FediCheck is our moderation-as-a-service domain federation app, it allows Mastodon servers to sign in and automatically update their domain blocks and retractions from a trusted list. For this iteration we are using our CARIAD list (an aggregation of the most blocked domains) combined with our Do Not Interact list, each domain is reviewed before inclusion, and the service is intended for new administrators to get a kick start on their federation choices while keeping them safe from day 1 harassment.
We’ve onboarded our first batch of beta testers and while we’ve got some kinks to iron out, the service is working well. We’ll keep adding more servers from the initial round of requests, and work our way toward making this a free, public service.
We have contracted with Tall Poppy for up to 20 moderators to gain access to a range of personal safety tools, including live support during online harassment and doxxing attacks. We are scheduling the first onboarding and hope to offer this to many more in the coming months.
Working with the great folks at Tremau, we launched the first of our regulatory guidance materials, this easy-to-read guide to the DSA allows Fediverse administrators to review their exposure to the DSA, and practical guidance on working toward compliance.
We’ve installed and experimented with the Bluesky open source moderation tool Ozone. As part of this activity, we’ve set up a labeller account on Bluesky, we’re not actively moderating anything (yet) but we are looking into if and how we can support labelling on the network. Our Bluesky links:
Lillian and Jon have been conducting a survey of moderators to help guide the production of a number of templates for moderation teams, including a moderator agreement and code of conduct. Longer-term this will become a handbook for hands-on moderator activities.
IFTAS is now a recognised 501c3 organisation, this means we can accept tax-deductible donations to support our work. Everything we do is free of charge and we need your support to keep the work moving forward!
We have a number of ways for you to support the mission:
If you’re considering making a contribution, your employer may have matching funds available! We are registered with Benevity, check with your company’s giving program to see if you can double your contribution!
Spoiler Alert
We are slowly opening the doors to our collaboration portal “IFTAS Connect”.
We’ve issued invitations to our Needs Assessment participants, and will be opening up more broadly in late April. IFTAS Connect is a community of practice for moderators, community managers and researchers new and old to come together, share what works, seek help, and get guides and resources for their day to day work.
Signals sharing – we will soon be convening a group to begin the work of classifying shareable information to strengthen the Fediverse defenses against spam, disinformation and more, using an ISAC-like format. Email us for more info.
Additional regulatory guidance for administrators, GDPR, UK’s OSA and more on the list.
Moderator wellness and resilience education
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IFTAS is happy to announce the public availability of our DSA Guide for Decentralized Services – a practical guide for small and micro services that are subject to the EU’s Digital Services Act.
Developed in collaboration with the great people at Tremau, our DSA Guide is designed to help independent social media service providers navigate these complex regulations and achieve compliance with these new rules without compromising the unique qualities of federated, open social networks.
As part of our Needs Assessment activities, we’ve heard a repeated need for help understanding the complex regulatory landscape that decentralized services need to consider, and this DSA Guide is the first of many in our plan to provide clear, actionable guidance to a range of regulations for the community.
As of February 2024, all online services and digital platforms that offer services in the European Union are required to be fully compliant with the DSA. If your server has member accounts in the EU, or is publicly viewable in the EU, your service is most likely impacted by this regulation.
However, various portions of the DSA are not applicable to “small and micro” services, and this guide will show you clearly which parts apply and which do not.
For administrators of platforms like Mastodon, PeerTube, and Pixelfed, the DSA Guide can help demystify the requirements and offer practical advice on achieving compliance for the over 27,000 independent operators of these and other decentralized social media services who otherwise may not be able to obtain the guidance and advice that larger operations can afford to invest in.
We just expanded the section in our #SubduedSocial server rules to conform to the #IFTAS guidelines against targeted misgendering and deadnaming in the fediverse.
Ok, I'm putting this out there now so that people have time to prepare. Obviously there's a lot of people posting about their anniversary of joining Mastodon / the Fediverse at the moment, but there's a particularly special anniversary happening tomorrow.
It'll be one year tomorrow since the #Defaidodon hashtag was unleashed on the world (Diolch @jaz), and I think this needs to be marked with many pictures of sheep. You know what to do.