The Nexus of Privacy / is on Nostr

A newsletter about #privacy, #technology, #policy, #strategy, and #justice.

Currently at [@nexusofprivacy](https://mastodon.social/@nexusofprivacy ), but looking for a new home and so checking out infosec.exchange

Newsletter: https://thenexusofprivacy.net

Last Notes

2024-04-22 19:13:14

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There's always room for improvement in the user interface but it's actually prety hard for a user to block a domain unintentionally. It's not even an option from an individual post; you have to go to the profile. And when I click on "block domain" from a profile, here's the dialog I get -- it warns that you might not want to do this and makes it explicit that you'll lose all your followers from that domain.
[@schizanon](https://mastodon.social/@schizanon) [@mike](https://flipboard.social/@mike)
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/316/446/566/054/611/original/6050e5f6a458d53a.png

2024-04-22 18:04:41

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Interesting discussion, thanks for sharing!
In terms of [@rklambo](https://threads.net/@rklambo/)'s point about the value of individual users being able to block servers, I agree this is important -- and, it's possible in Mastodon. Here's a writeup I did on it last month. https://privacy.thenexus.today/how-to-block-threads-on-mastodon/
Also as Rachel noted, Meta's policies are crafted with input from civil rights groups as well as other stakeholders. That's good, and I think there's a lot to learn from this work.
It's worth highlighting though that good policies by themelves aren't enough. We sometimes see that on the fediverse today with instances that have policies against racism, islamophobia and anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry but don't consisntently enforce them. This has been a major challenge for Meta as well, and their lack of enforcement of these policies has been strongly critiqued by those same civil rights groups -- see the recent GLAAD report [Unsafe: Meta Fails to Moderate Extreme Anti-trans Hate Across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads](https://glaad.org/smsi/report-meta-fails-to-moderate-extreme-anti-trans-hate-across-facebook-instagram-and-threads/). So as Meta considers making moderation tools available to the fediverse, it's crucial to make sure they don't replicate these problems.
More positively, though, if Meta's willing to share detailed information about how the tools are designed, implemented, and tested -- and work with people in the fediverse and civil rights organizations to improve them -- there really is an opportunity for a breakthrough here.
[@mike](https://flipboard.social/@mike) [@pcottle](https://threads.net/@pcottle/)