GONADS125

I was going to link to a recent comment of mine in which I actually state my argument, but lo and behold the post full of negative comments regarding Threads federation is gone!

That seems like some bullshit, so I’m going to share my comment here:

I see many people purporting that users blocking Threads on an individual basis as a solution, but it’s not… Blocking Threads will not prevent Threads users’ comments in federated instances from showing up.

Even if you block Threads, you will still see hateful, harassing, and extremist content and misinformation.

Furthermore, even if it did block Threads engagement entirely on an individual blocking basis, it is still a failure on the instance admins to adequately protect their users and cultivate a healthy community.

.world admins defederated with exploding heads due to hate, harassment, and extremism/misinformation. Why would they then federate with Threads which harbors the same toxic users?

It’s a move to bring more users into the Fediverse, but it comes with costs and risks that do not justify the short-sighted gain of more users and inching towards becoming mainstream.

Threads has been subject to mass amounts of radicalizing, extremist content, and there have also been instances of users having personal information doxxed on Threads due to Meta’s information-harvesting practices. [1]

Threads was marketed to be open to ‘free speech’ (read: hate speech and misinformation) and encouraged the Far-Right movement to join, who have spread extremism, hate, and harassment on Threads already. [2] Threads has been a hotbed of Israel-Palestine misinformation/propaganda. [3]

They fired fact-checkers just prior to Threads’ launch [1], however they claim they will have 3rd party fact-checkers next year. [4]

Meta/FB/Instagram has a rampant history of illegal and unethical practices, including running experiments on their users which affected their moods and induced depression in many uninformed, non-consenting subjects. [5] Such unethical experiments could affect federated users as well.

(Edit: As @massive_bereavement reminded me, Meta also assisted in genocide! [6])

Meta/FB/Instagram also have a strong history of facilitating the spread of misinformation and extremism, which contributed to the January 6th insurrection attempt. [7]

If exploding heads was defederated with because of this sort of toxic extremism, why would they want to federate with a platform plagued by that same content? One known for shortcomings moderating it? And one which comes from a company with a long history of unethical and illegal practices regarding users?

Due to these issues and Meta’s rampant history of unethical and illegal business practices, there should be no federation with Threads for the well-being of the users in this instance.

I have donated to the .world instance since my first week here, but should they continue with federating with Threads, I will be cancelling my donations and finding an instance that won’t undermine the safety and well-being of their users for a boost of (largely toxic) new users and an inch towards being mainstream.

The gains are immediate but minimal, and come at great costs which do not warrant federating with Threads (IMO).

If you don’t like it, disconnect.

I agree with your comment, but just have to point out this is where I’m at. I have no interest interacting with Threads and blocking the instance on Lemmy only blocks posts (not Threads users’ ability to comment throughout federated instances).

I was about to resume working on growing a community I created and planned on making a few more, but I have zero interest in my communities interacting with Threads.

I thought I found a great new home in lemmy.world, but I’m getting ready to strip my community of all my content and stop my donations to .world. If I wanted to deal with Meta users, I’d use one of their privacy/rights infringing platforms…

I know this is a divisive topic and I’m not interested in debating it here.

That is how it works in lemmy blocking instances. I think you commented in another section talking about other fediverse platforms.

I don’t think I was clear enough here in that I’m discussing lemmy exclusively. Not other fediverse platforms.

That’s good to know. Thanks.

Hopefully soon. The defense appealed the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, so the next step is the US Supreme Court.

It’s worth noting that special council Jack Smith has requested an expedited appeal for his case against trump to skip straight to the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has agreed to see their arguments in consideration, and there is precedence for this from the Bush vs Gore election.

Be interesting to see how the US Supreme Court rules in both cases. There is clear corruption/bias in some of the Republican members, but with that so brazenly in the open right now, I wonder if they’ll feel compelled to rule reasonably to try to reestablish their legitimacy?

Guess we’ll see soon enough…

Their stockpiles and equipment were neglected over years. They once held a significant strength in their military. But it was systemic corruption that eroded their status as a military superpower. That’s clearly a myth at this point, no doubt…

I so hope the Supreme Court upholds Colorado’s ruling… It would be so amazing if this became a trend across the states.

I’m not going to a community college hahaha. I’m working on my Master’s in counseling.

Just thought that a critical thinking course may help you with your 4th grade level logic/arguments.

It’s false to consider the userbase on lemmy.world and Threads to be analogous. I have documented the very real problems with Threads in this comment here.

Keep living in denial of what has already been happening on Threads haha.

If the “vast majority of lemmy users” start demand things from their admins while excusing themselves from contributing in any meaningful way, yes, I’d disregard their opinions as well.

Boy, you really ought to consider taking a critical thinking class at your local community college or something…

You’re still trying to build a strawman argument. When your foundation is compromised, you don’t keep building on it…

It’s clear you’re going to use disingenuous argumentative tactics and fallacies. If your next comment is just as juvenile, I’m not going to bother responding. Again, these arguments are invalid upon arrival, being logical fallacies and all…

I disagree on user support. Look at the posts heavily discussing the matter, and also pay attention to the vote counts.

Also, it’s not a hypothetical when there is already a systemic issue and the company has a notorious history. Look at my comment here for my fleshed out argument on this subject with citations.

I wasn’t intending on debating the issue here; I was only looking for recommendations on alternative instances.

Nice strawman attempt! There’s no reason for me to even argue with you when your argument is a fallacy and automatically invalid.

Using your ridiculous logic, you must think the vast majority of lemmy users don’t hold any value or merit? Because the vast majority of us are not hosting our own instances.

Being an active and constructive user, creating and moderating communities, and fighting misinformation are positive qualities for online communities.

Edit: I’ve also been donating to Ruud since my first week on this platform, so that’s yet another reason your argument is totally incorrect. But I’ll definitely be stopping my donations if Threads ends up being federated with.

I disagree that they aren’t selling out.

I consider it to be as such when this move isn’t supported by most of their userbase, they misframe that blocking Threads is a viable solution for the rampant issues with hate/extremism, and the decision puts their users at risk (both in the form of extremism/harassment and exploitation by Meta).

It’s an inch towards becoming mainstream, but the costs outweigh the benefits IMO. I believe it’s hypocritical to defederate from exploding heads and then turn around and federate with Threads.

I think misleading users into believing they can block Threads (only the posts), making a decision against the majority of their community’s wishes, and instead subjecting them to potential harassment, misinformation and exploitation is selling out.

Except for time, money, and technical knowledge…

Also *blackjack and hookers!

I created !vans@lemmy.world and have been planning on trying to revive my efforts to grow the community, but I’m sure hell not doing that if Threads is being incorporated. I’m instead going to strip the community of all of the content I posted.

I also want to create a community for my city, but I’m never going to do that on an instance that allows Threads/Meta incorporation. Also have wanted to recreate r/OldSkaters from reddit.

If I wanted to deal with Meta, I’d make an account on one of their privacy/rights-infringing platforms.

As established already, blocking Threads does not block user comments from showing up. Even if it did, I still would not host a community on an instance federated with Threads unless there was a way for the communities themselves to fully block Threads interaction.

But the only way to fully block Threads is by defederating from it.

No, that’s a half-measure at best… It only blocks Threads posts from showing up in your feed. It does not block Threads users comments from showing up on federated instances, even if the individual user personally blocks them.

I am legitimately fearful for LGBTQ+ users, as their community members have already been harrased on Threads by the far-right.

That’s such a misinformative false ‘solution’ people keep peddling…

No, blocking Threads on the individual user level does not stop comments made by Threads users from showing up on federated instances, even for users who block Threads.

That means users who block Threads will still see hate/extremism and are still subject to potential harassment by toxic Threads users.

Hillary vs trump was the first election in which I could vote, but I refrained on account of not wanting to vote for a giant douche or a shit sandwich. I will never make that mistake again…

I’m not a Biden fan, but I voted for him last election and will eagerly do so again this next cycle.

I also want to point out that the gap between the “lesser of two evils” has turned into the Grand fucking Canyon following trump’s attempts to overthrow our government to remain in power, and platforming on literal fascism…

It’s a vote for democracy or neonazi fascism. Period.

Most instance admins are federating with Threads/Meta. Even if you block the instance yourself, it doesn’t prevent you from seeing Threads users’ comments and the hate, harassment, and extremism on that platform from spreading throughout federated instances.