5 ms·

Meanwhile, nothing has changed on Mastodon. (I personally don't think Bluesky is a bad idea and I'm glad for more things in the ecosystem. But the point of dec

Meanwhile, nothing has changed on Mastodon. (I personally don't think Bluesky is a bad idea and I'm glad for more things in the ecosystem. But the point of decentralizing isn't just to protect against editorial constraint by the service owner; it's to protect against government pressure too. Mississippi could go after Mastodon service providers, but it'll cost them a lot more to find and chase 'em all).

Waterluvian 1y ago
Or they pick a few and make an example out of them.
- shadowgovt 1y ago
  I believe the example would be "Good luck with that I'm in Germany."
  - egypturnash 1y ago
    That would be mastodon.social, yes, but there's lots of instances that are not. Like I run one and I'm in Louisiana and I sure do not have the funds to mount a legal defense.
    - Forbo 1y ago
      Sounds like a failure to properly build a threat model. Consider relocating your instance and begin using privacy mitigations like VPN. Much cheaper than an attorney.
  - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
    > the example would be "Good luck with that I'm in Germany” Mississippi is a red state. Bluesky is liberal. I could see the White House turning the dispute into a tariff or defence spat.
esafak 1y ago
If you think technology will protect you from censorship look at China. They can stop all but the most persistent users. It is just a question of how much they care to; they have the means. And most users are closer to Homer Simpson than Edward Snowden.
- beeflet 1y ago
  technology does not work unless you use it
  - tclancy 1y ago
    What does that mean?
    - beeflet 1y ago
      China isn't an example of the impact of poltics vs technology because chinese people generally don't use de-centralized or private tech in the first place
- shadowgovt 1y ago
  Mississippi would have a hell of a time convincing every ISP in the US to put up a firewall too. They could try, but not even China could build an impregnable firewall.
  - avs733 1y ago
    six months ago I would have said the same thing about US universities.
    - terminalshort 1y ago
      Universities? The primary revenue source for basically 100% of US universities is the federal government. The concept of a private university in the US is little more than a legal technicality.
  - 1y ago
brigade 1y ago
Mississippi can’t unless they can establish personal jurisdiction over a specific Mastodon operator. Which if that instance’s owner/operators don’t live in Mississippi, probably requires a novel application of the Zippo test [1] that’s a bit questionable for how noncommercial Mastodon tries to be. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_jurisdiction_in_Internet_cases_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_jurisdiction_in_Inter...

Waterluvian 1y ago

Or they pick a few and make an example out of them.

shadowgovt 1y ago
I believe the example would be "Good luck with that I'm in Germany."
- egypturnash 1y ago
  That would be mastodon.social, yes, but there's lots of instances that are not. Like I run one and I'm in Louisiana and I sure do not have the funds to mount a legal defense.
  - Forbo 1y ago
    Sounds like a failure to properly build a threat model. Consider relocating your instance and begin using privacy mitigations like VPN. Much cheaper than an attorney.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago
  > the example would be "Good luck with that I'm in Germany” Mississippi is a red state. Bluesky is liberal. I could see the White House turning the dispute into a tariff or defence spat.

esafak 1y ago

If you think technology will protect you from censorship look at China. They can stop all but the most persistent users. It is just a question of how much they care to; they have the means. And most users are closer to Homer Simpson than Edward Snowden.

beeflet 1y ago
technology does not work unless you use it
- tclancy 1y ago
  What does that mean?
  - beeflet 1y ago
    China isn't an example of the impact of poltics vs technology because chinese people generally don't use de-centralized or private tech in the first place
shadowgovt 1y ago
Mississippi would have a hell of a time convincing every ISP in the US to put up a firewall too. They could try, but not even China could build an impregnable firewall.
- avs733 1y ago
  six months ago I would have said the same thing about US universities.
  - terminalshort 1y ago
    Universities? The primary revenue source for basically 100% of US universities is the federal government. The concept of a private university in the US is little more than a legal technicality.
- 1y ago

brigade 1y ago

Mississippi can’t unless they can establish personal jurisdiction over a specific Mastodon operator. Which if that instance’s owner/operators don’t live in Mississippi, probably requires a novel application of the Zippo test [1] that’s a bit questionable for how noncommercial Mastodon tries to be. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_jurisdiction_in_Internet_cases_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_jurisdiction_in_Inter...