…and the community hollowed out, as people left facing harassment the site couldn't or wouldn't protect them from. Twitter decided not to moderate gamergate. And as a result, gamergate *became* Twitter's moderation team. Twitter gave them the power to decide who could/couldn't stay on the site. - ThreadSky

dryad.technology • 160 days ago

…and the community hollowed out, as people left facing harassment the site couldn't or wouldn't protect them from.

Twitter decided not to moderate gamergate. And as a result, gamergate *became* Twitter's moderation team. Twitter gave them the power to decide who could/couldn't stay on the site.

Comments

dryad.technology•160 days ago

Bluesky is looking down the same thing with Singal and Kiwifarms. By gifting Kiwifarms a respectable, centralized organization point that won't get banned as long as it follows easily gameable rules, Bluesky is making Kiwifarms its new effective moderation staff.

quantumham.bsky.social•160 days ago

One wonders if, say, Stormfront would get the same reaction.

bento-bongos.bsky.social•160 days ago

Easily brute force social media platforms by intimidating the weakest link, and prime it up with a hostile takeover by burner accounts.

This has happened on Facebook and Tumblr, too. And the worst part is "indifferent centrists" eat this shit up.

yaseppochi.bsky.social•160 days ago

You mean Singal as a harassment hub, not that Kiwifarms is establishing itself openly here, right? I ask because I’m like 1/8 for reporting KF associated accounts, and the “doesn’t exist” accounts weren’t found in my block lists, so presumably deleted before I tried.
1/

yaseppochi.bsky.social•160 days ago

I’ve seen what KF and related nasties do, I saw a Singal “colonize with normies” tweet. I “take them literally and seriously”. But from my vantage point, I don’t see their activity, all that’s really visible to me is inaction on Singal (and they did take down Linehan because he’s too stupid).
2/

yaseppochi.bsky.social•160 days ago

How much of the current controversy is reactive to what these parasites are already doing, and how much is proactive because we know what they intend? I can’t tell, so I ask.
3/3

step-hen.bsky.social•160 days ago

I will block every single last one of these creeps the moment I learn they're here and subscribe to blocklists from vetted accounts.

meetingmayz.bsky.social•160 days ago

They are here already.

theeazita.bsky.social•160 days ago

I don’t see a single one of them because my block lists are on top of it. I was worried that it would be too much to keep up with but even on the big Twitter-migrated accounts like George Takei I’m not seeing more than one or two occasional troll/MAGA posts and they’re easily nuked from view.

yaseppochi.bsky.social•160 days ago

MAGA trolling is ugly, but I would not expect to see YSIS/GG/KF style operations on Takei posts, though. Am I missing something?

theeazita.bsky.social•160 days ago

That was just an example. My blocklists seem to be handling the kf accounts too (don’t know those other acronyms.)

timcfield.bsky.social•160 days ago

The problem is that with the massive influx of users over the past few months, those subscribed to such blocklists are only a tiny percentage of a tiny percentage of overall users. *You* can’t see them, but the blocklists don’t have any real power over them anymore.

step-hen.bsky.social•160 days ago

Really? Did BlueSky undo the blacklist system? Should we just flee again to Mastadon?

theeazita.bsky.social•160 days ago

I don’t understand- if everyone subscribes to block lists, no one sees those accounts, right?

dryad.technology•160 days ago

And the worst part for Bluesky is, this won't end when Singal is banned. (I don't think much of Singal's self control; I think he'll keep testing the envelope until he does something even Bluesky finds bannable.) The people he "colonized" this site with will stick around after he's gone.

auska.esq•160 days ago

I don’t want to minimize that because it does still require action, but I do think it’s at least an entire category lesser a problem.

Knowingly allowing a bad actor of this magnitude to stay is a violation of trust that undoes the socio part of this sociotechnological system. No tech will fix that.

auska.esq•160 days ago

It will be imperfect but much of the other harassment *can* be effectively mitigated through a combination of community moderation and systemic protections (especially against automation that will otherwise overwhelm any moderation.)

dryad.technology•160 days ago

With Gamergate, the shift came when they went from organizing offsite (4chan, 8chan) with Twitter as *target*, to when they started organizing on Twitter *itself*.

KF is already targeting this site; Bluesky Safety barely keeps them under control. Invite them inside, and you won't keep that control.

xoxogossipgita.bsky.social•160 days ago

I’ve been trying to articulate the kinds of moderation issues Bluesky is inviting with their current decisions but you did a way better job than I would have, thank you.

goose.ski•160 days ago

they hired a guy from twitter and we’re just replaying twitter. starting to think less that his hiring was a mistake (as far as they might see it) and more that this is what they wanted

nacl.sh•160 days ago

why do i gotta participate in the spectacle of millionaires burning their fortunes in public? this is so many extra steps

kat.meangirls.online•160 days ago

look, i can appreciate the history of an influential moment like gamergate, but why exactly is that relevant for this completely new thing with Singal?

...oh worm?

dryad.technology•160 days ago

(i get your joke but also i'm pretty sure you can specifically document the exact same group of people starting off as 4chan, becoming 8chan and then becoming kf. like i can't say that for certain at this exact moment. but i suspect it bears out.)

dryad.technology•160 days ago

(and regardless, the whole international fascism / donald trump / conservative youtube / anti equality backlash is all just one big interconnected morass. the disparate parts are in conversation.)

stephentherry.bsky.social•160 days ago

Why do we need to bring the Nazis in the Bar story again?
I mean, come on, Bluesky! 🫤

zerogracetrack.bsky.social•160 days ago

Seems legit.

mxgaiuswydra.bsky.social•160 days ago

By being intolerant fucks, they have broken the social contract of tolerance, and are no longer deserving or entitled to said tolerance

indighost77.neocities.org•160 days ago

@safety.bsky.app @jay.bsky.team @aaron.bsky.team y'all need to read this and understand what we want here. we don't want you to protect that shitheel singal. accounts way bigger than him and me are calling for his suspension and for y'all to enforce the rules instead of bending them.

alexis.bzky.team•160 days ago

i cannot see all this and conclude anything but; "they must want just another 4chan clone"

ivansnejkov.bsky.social•160 days ago

I think that states the problem loud and clear.

But what is the solution?
What should Bluesky do to properly handle the problem?

It's not just kicking the leader, is it?

Maybe bring back (unlimited) invitations, to monitor signup chains?

Twitter had an army of moderators...

buckmeister.bsky.social•160 days ago

Yup. This is exactly what is happening. Im already thinking about where to go.

dragonlizardjareth.bsky.social•160 days ago

You've made many valuable points MCC, but it is clear that those in charge will not listen unless they are forced too. Action must be taken to force Bluesky on this issue and make them understand things.

dragonlizardjareth.bsky.social•160 days ago

If they still refuse to see the truth, then we must take action ourselves to remove the KFs from Bluesky. As they have been going after the Trans Community, it’s time to start going after them. I have no skill in programming or hacking, but I’m hoping to reach out to some folks here who are.

dragonlizardjareth.bsky.social•160 days ago

Folks willing to fight for the innocent and go after the KFs where it will hurt them the most. If I or others can do that, maybe we can get them to be the ones afraid for once, make them the ones digging holes to run and hide in so we can make Bluesky safe for Trans and kind folks once again.

ravenonthill.bsky.social•160 days ago

I think the nuclear block will somewhat weaken this but we really need defenses against legal action and currently the US Supreme Court has basically legalized cyber stalking.

rszasz.saxonco.com•160 days ago

Nuclear block is good. But not having the ability to lock down accounts (lock down who can follow, lock down posts to only visible to followers) safety is a major problem

popelizbet.bsky.social•160 days ago

Untrue. #YourSlipIsShowing

dryad.technology•160 days ago

I would consider "your slip is showing" as an operation organized off twitter and performed on twitter. (An operation involving fake-identity accounts would seem to need, by *nature*, to be organized elsewhere because the fake-identity accounts theoretically cannot talk about being fake?)

dryad.technology•160 days ago

It *is* definitely the case that the people who comprised "gamergate" were performing operations against twitter before gamergate. But I do believe by the time gamergate was done they had refined and changed their methods significantly in a way that permanently changed Twitter itself for the worse.

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