We've had over 100 responses to our Fediverse #Moderator Needs Assessment! The survey is open to any Federated / ActivityPub moderation team using any software.
The results will help determine how IFTAS funding will be put to work.
Elon Musk claiming he'll get rid of Twitter's blocking feature is silly, but it doesn't have anything to do with Apple's app store guidelines. A lot of well-meaning folks are misreading the guidelines, believing that if you allow user-generated content in an app, you have to give users the ability to block other users.
“[The] capacity for outsiders to gain voice and win is a really valuable part of the internet. At the same time, what we’ve seen both in politics and media is that the absence of gatekeepers has this real downside.” –@owasow
For those of you #mastoadmin and #moderators who still follow my personal account please review our updated #Moderation survey - IFTAS is about to begin working on a number of tools and resources for #TrustAndSafety and your input can help guide the funding to the right places
All questions are optional, but the more we know the more we can get to work on what's needed.
“Some of the engineers really regretted that they hadn’t been able to take action [against polarization] earlier because if they had, potentially, [Facebook] wouldn’t have had this large ecosystem of misinformation and misinformation publishers that actually started defending its own interest. Making those changes once you’ve already got an established platform and communities on this platform is a lot harder.” –@Jhorwitzz
“I developed a way of dealing with [having to view CSAM]. I’d leave work and try not to think about it. ... [Our team at AOL] went downtown in DC one day and went to the art gallery. The logic for that was like, you see ugly stuff every day, let’s go look at some stuff that has cultural value or has some beauty to it.” –Ralph Spencer
A new paper from the Stanford Internet Observatory finds troubling amounts of CSAM on Fediverse servers.
IFTAS is working on providing hash and match service and reporting support for ActivityPub servers, and will be convening platform and app developers to integrate CSAM scanning options in the default installation.
Providers are encouraged to consider blocking servers known to be a source of illegal content.
It feels like we’re still in some twilight zone of a #Twitter alternative.
#Instagram#Threads made a huge splash, but not available in the EU, is dealing with moderation challenges, has a minimal feature set, and is figuring out how to keep users active.
#Bluesky is struggling with moderation, between expectations and their vision. The main focus is still on getting federation to work, while the app still lacks basic features, and remains invite only, have they missed their chance to Threads?
@alastor8472 Well I haven't seen a single #TrustAndSafety or #moderation leadership role advertised for any of them - And if they are going to use the team leadership they used to have, they are going to carry on with the crap they used to have all over again. I cringe when I hear interviews with some of them - somehow seeming proud that they learned their trade "on the job".
After 8 months working on Mastodon, in particular on infrastructure for mastodon.social and mastodon.online, I have been able to articulate my vision for the future of Trust & Safery for Mastodon : https://renchap.com/blog/post/evolving_mastodon_trust_and_safety/
We need better tools to go along the growth of the Fediverse, and they need to enable multiple instances to work together on those topics and keep our loved network safe for everyone!
As more apps and clients are released, the need for shared resources becomes more important.
IFTAS is exploring the creation of a community-driven list of restricted or flaggable usernames for use by any client or platform developer. Before going to wider public comment, we are seeking expert and experienced input on a minimum necessary list as a very basic Step 1 in reducing inappropriate username creation.
“[When it comes to moderator tools], it’s often the community of people who need something driving it more so than the platforms themselves.” -@patrickokeefe
Hi folks! This is tough to post. I was laid off just shy of 18 wks ago. The lack of movement on that front is bad. 0 response to scores of CVs sent & only 3 sets of interviews, those being direct referrals. Looking for things in anti-fraud #TrustAndSafety space, as well as what I have always done well- deep customer support, things I've done for 25ish years. LinkedIn below, if you have direct leads you can refer me to, I would be so grateful. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevbob/ #FediHire#FediHired
Comparing longtime, volunteer community moderators to politicians is an unforced, massive blunder for the CEO of a platform for volunteer-led communities.
“It’s a great idea to have a [mental health crisis] policy in place before you need it so that you can have something to fall back on. It can be alarming or even scary to hear somebody else say they want to hurt themselves or somebody else. Having a policy that’s written before you’re in that situation can be helpful in ensuring that you can offer support in a meaningful way.” –Becka Ross
#introduction hi everyone, i'm tao! i'm a software engineer based in #edinburgh, #scotland. i like to build things that are good for the world; right now that means tooling for #trustandsafety.
i’ve been around the fediverse before; back then i worked on @fediversespace, a visualization of the fediverse. excited to see how things are going these days!
i'm into privacy, security, and philosophy, and i'm just happy to be here!!
When the Community Memory virtual community began with a single computer in a record store in 1973, co-creator Lee Felsenstein thought they might have to physically defend the machine from damage.
“I thought we would have to [physically] defend the [Community Memory] machine. How dare you bring a computer into our record store?”
It's the output of 8 months of work by the Trust & Safety Teaching Consortium - a loosely-organized coalition of academic, industry and non-profit experts addressing topics from trust & safety regulation to metrics & measurement in trust & safety, policy issues such as terrorism, CSAM and platform abuse as well as the role of identity.
Watch 60 minutes of 14 professionals introducing 13 modules, led by @shelbygrossman and @alex. It was genuinely inspiring to see what each and every group has created.
Over the past 8 months the Trust and Safety Teaching Consortium @StanfordCyber - a loosely-organized coalition of academic, industry and non-profit experts - has been creating teaching materials with one goal: Help make the internet a safer place for everyone.
The open-source syllabus is available for everyone who prepares the next generation of trust & safety professionals, engineers and PMs.
Thanks to @shelbygrossman and @alex for their leadership in establishing the consortium and all the work it takes to get things done and to create real and valuable output.
We are launching the teaching materials with a webinar on Wednesday, May 24 at 9am PST.
“If you can’t be empathetic for the things you are not … then you’re not really doing good thoughtful community moderation, trust and safety work. … Ultimately, if you want to be truly great at this work, you have to protect the people who aren’t you.” -@patrickokeefe
A business that (I think!) I would like to see exist:
A paid service that allows you to delegate trust and safety activities for your Mastodon instance to them, owned and staffed by people who are very experienced and qualified to provide that service. Ideally, instances advertise that trust and safety is handled by this provider.