Decentralization is "anything goes". You can control your personal feed. Relay operators can control to varying degrees who can post to their relays and what content is filtered. Media hosts can also do the same and both can perform moderation after the fact. Neither of these are mandatory, which is why there is illegal (depending on jurisdiction) content that exists whether or not you see it.
> Decentralization is not chaos. Even anarchy in its classical sense does not mean "anything goes."
"Thucydides used it to describe the chaos following the Athenian plague and the Sicilian Expedition's failure. The word was, in its origins, morally neutral: it named a condition, much as 'drought' names the absence of rain, without implying that the absence was desired or desirable."
https://www.etymology.life/word/anarchy
> Bitcoin is decentralized, but Bitcoin is certainly not "anything goes." It is extraordinarily rule-bound.
It's rules are based on hash power. There have been several hard forks starting with BCH and many adherents consider these the "real" bitcoin with different rules. While the USG has legal mechanisms in place regarding transactions to and from sanctioned wallets, if core decided "we're blocking transactions for cheese purchases because we're vegan btw" it would cause a revolt.
One could argue with kind 1111 replies that clients not implementing it are the "real" nostr or that clients implementing it are the "real" nostr. The NIPs and kinds are the (non-mandatory to implement) "rules" of the protocol, not the opinions that flow over it.
> Dr. C has become a great tool for helping me examine my arguments
Mind raped
H
npub1gr…752zz
2026-10-05 04:18:13 UTC
in reply to nevent1q…dcze
Author Public Key
npub1grd6pp385tevd8psx9nxzjd4vutg7pycjj49cs3q8gujpg77sjps4752zzSeen on
wss://relay.damus.ioPublished at
2026-10-05 04:18:13 UTCEvent JSON
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"pubkey": "40dba08627a2f2c69c3031666149b567168f049894aa5c42203a3920a3de8483",
"created_at": 1791173893,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"e",
"12e6981cae951dec95d33e688b65822415568858879237858b918cb6f9d4fee0",
"wss://relay.ditto.pub/",
"root",
"2b998b04e2a1fe6855b2e0ab10bb92b774b5dfa0f78926c7a65ae08086727e47"
],
[
"p",
"2b998b04e2a1fe6855b2e0ab10bb92b774b5dfa0f78926c7a65ae08086727e47"
]
],
"content": "Decentralization is \"anything goes\". You can control your personal feed. Relay operators can control to varying degrees who can post to their relays and what content is filtered. Media hosts can also do the same and both can perform moderation after the fact. Neither of these are mandatory, which is why there is illegal (depending on jurisdiction) content that exists whether or not you see it.\n\n\u003e Decentralization is not chaos. Even anarchy in its classical sense does not mean \"anything goes.\"\n\n\"Thucydides used it to describe the chaos following the Athenian plague and the Sicilian Expedition's failure. The word was, in its origins, morally neutral: it named a condition, much as 'drought' names the absence of rain, without implying that the absence was desired or desirable.\"\nhttps://www.etymology.life/word/anarchy\n\n\u003e Bitcoin is decentralized, but Bitcoin is certainly not \"anything goes.\" It is extraordinarily rule-bound.\n\nIt's rules are based on hash power. There have been several hard forks starting with BCH and many adherents consider these the \"real\" bitcoin with different rules. While the USG has legal mechanisms in place regarding transactions to and from sanctioned wallets, if core decided \"we're blocking transactions for cheese purchases because we're vegan btw\" it would cause a revolt.\n\nOne could argue with kind 1111 replies that clients not implementing it are the \"real\" nostr or that clients implementing it are the \"real\" nostr. The NIPs and kinds are the (non-mandatory to implement) \"rules\" of the protocol, not the opinions that flow over it.\n\n\u003e Dr. C has become a great tool for helping me examine my arguments\n\nMind raped",
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}