Lists and starter packs used for harassment will not be visible to other users in the Bluesky app. Existing subscribers will remain subscribed to the list.
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Is there an easy way to see which lists or starter packs you are included in and does an individual user have any control (ie can they remove them selves from a list or starter pack)?
No-one has answered the second question. How can you remove yourself from a list or a starter pack (especially if the list/pack creator has then blocked you)?
Surely a user ought to have control over the lists or starter packs that they appear in?
I don't really give a shit what you think on this matter; the only acceptable way to deal with a list that YOU HAVE FOUND TO BE ABUSIVE is to undo the blocks, unsubscribe everyone, delete the list, and MODERATE THE ACCOUNT.
Can you maybe start with deleting lists that belong to suspended accounts? I'm on a load of defamatory or incorrect lists as shown on clearsky that I can't report because the authors have been removed. A bit of housekeeping wouldn't go amiss.
You need to let us remove ourselves from lists. You can't make a system where anybody can put anybody on any list for any reason with any description and title and then give the people put on those lists no way of protecting themselves from the inevitable libel.
Correct, they should be removed & since I for one have sent email to them, well, not much so seeing that @safety.bsky.app are aware, I will give them time and if still nothing then I will follow other channels (I deal with CTI and SE)... but correct by allowing this they transgress regulations.
Will existing subscribers to hidden lists be able to see these lists and unsubscribe? Or is this basically the "troll list owner deleted their troll list, now everyone is blocked forever" situation in a different shade of shit?
If your list is hidden, you can edit it to comply with our terms, then email [email protected] for review. Our aim is to address toxicity while preserving list functionality.
Please change your moderation email, it looks like a scam, you can still have it forward to a new address that's actually from a domain we interact with
What about having an option for making a list private. I find them useful to categorize users and see their posts by category. Would greatly appreciate having that functionality - it does exist in Twitter/X
Unless I am grossly mistaken, lists and moderation lists are separate. This change I believe only applies to the former.
i.e. to lists designed to follow people.
i.e. hate-follow lists rather than block-lists or mute-lists
They don’t care. It would have been easy enough to say: too many have abused the list function, therefore we’re removing it. That would be the only acceptable solution.
I’ve been put on some really unsettling ones for just sort of existing and I’ve been extremely concerned about it—reported them and nothing. But PLEASE make it so we can REMOVE ourselves or are sent a request to accept/reject. That’s what we REALLY need!
If you uncork the lists that contain all the toxic MAGAts, what is going to happen to this platform? If they had to approve their presence in those lists, do you think they would? Then what? Do you think anyone in their right mind is going to block thousands upon thousands of people one at a time?
I agree there is a lot of misuse and abuse but...I'd rather be on some stupid random list than have the site taken over by MAGAts and other unsavory characters of every description.
Maybe there is a better approach to this that strikes a balance but I haven't heard it yet.
Honestly? I don’t care about people being annoyed by maga people. If you’re here, you can block. My problem is people, especially *minorities* already experiencing abuse both irl and online being put on lists threatening us directly (which is what is happening to me currently). If your biggest
Same. ESP. In the current climate being added to ones that call me a “t3rr0r1st” is really unacceptable, and then they block you, so you’re literally helpless. I genuinely thought of leaving because of it but I need *some* kind of platform so I feel sort of trapped (and always unsafe).
Yeah, I got one that added me to a NSFW toys list along with over a hundred other folks at random for fun and refused to remove us. I blocked them, but they never deleted the list until their account was deleted.
That's really stupid. Lists are gold. Both to follow people and blocking. I don't need racists, misogynists, terfs or fascists in my feed. And I need to find good people to follow.
Someone can add you into a list, just because you follow someone he doesn't like, or he thinks you are (choose an insult) or he justs want to create a mess
and all the people who subscribe to this list are blocking you
You need to allow users to remove their name from lists. I am on several block lists of "troublemakers" and "haters" and all you can do is make them invisible???? NOT enough
I think the best thing you can do is allow us to remove our names from lists, as well as prevent someone from adding us to a list, simply by blocking that person.
If you block the list owner you are removed from the list and they can't add you to another
That way we control who is allowed to list us
Yes there is Bad actors utilizing mod list! But there is this account https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:squx3hjugk7m4rwjnfkbaor6
That keeps adding me to normal list's even though we are mutually blocking each other. So my name won't appear to others on his/her lists. .... 👇
Another thing about that account, it is every now and then, the account itself I believe is been deactivated and reactivated? @safety.bsky.app As I know when I have the account blocked my account won't appear to others (not mod)! So it doesn't worry me, but why is the account at this?
That last point would break moderation lists - eg someone (correctly) added to a list of anti-LGBT+ accounts could just block the list creator and be removed from it.
Moderation service accounts could be unblockable by individuals, yet suspendable by an independent governance body independent from Bluesky PBC, the company. Here is why:
Turkey demands "moderating away" dissidents from the official Bluesky App. But a fork of the App could remove the moderation feature and unblock all. So to fight authoritarians you would have to remove some protection that you get by blocking.
Idea: Independent moderation less vulnerable to govs.
I've just looked at Clearsky, and nope. There are quite a few insult and slander lists that are NOT hidden. And hiding the names but not the lists doesn't help much. Oh, and false is still false, even if it's in another language.
Soft block is a must - blocking an account MUST remove that account's "follow" and MUST remove your account from all of their lists - even if you then unblock again.
This is the only way to prevent harassment. And we all know it. 😡
Personally I don't think any kind of "user run" moderation where you can just slap everyone you don't like on a "pedos and rapists" list with no way for them to remove themselves from it is a type of moderation that deserves to be permitted to exist.
I agree and I think that not allowing people to use pejoratives in the list descriptions is a good start. will be interested to see what additional changes Bsky makes
The problem with that limited solution is I've already seen many lists that outright lie about what they are. "Transphobe" blocklists filled with trans ppl the creator didn't like. Other lists that their abusive nature only makes sense if you have very specific context making reporting them useless
i am NOT saying that this fixes everything but you should probably take those lists with a few grains of salt until you vet who the user running it actually is
That's 100% advice I suggest for anyone who does use a list--and keep checking in to make sure it didn't change hands to an abusive owner or that it wasn't a case of "they did the work to look good and now are abusing the feature that they have your trust".
Genuine question, not a "gotcha" or anything but genuine curiosity that I'd like to be educated on: If that's the case then why are they called "Moderation lists" in the settings?
(To be clear, I am in favour of Bsky moderating lists more, but I feel like they haven't really grasped how much this site has grown in the last few months. Maybe that's just me though)
Soon, people will freely move their data between multiple sites similar to Bsky. Your data is yours. If you secure your own domain, you make the rules. This is the goal. Bsky, and others will be the airport facilities, and you will be an airline. There will be some ground rules, the rest is on you.
Yup - lists that actively promote users to automatically block other users is simply intolerant. No normal real life society would allow this to continue.
🔶 Not enough is being done to address the libelous and slanderous lists being made against me! Please review the email correspondence again:
"FW: Moderation Lists Misused to Defame My Profile" - 4/4/2025 8:56 AM
I can 100% relate since I have reported the same via email and all I get back after some days is a generic response, any rate, just thought to mention the same in my case.
I *strongly* second what @spryoldlorax.bsky.social says.
The current system lets people I blocked—maybe for harassment—continue to harass me from behind a block, while I can’t find the blocked account to report. This shields harassers.
Sounds like a good step. Will you implement a solution for when a list has been deleted but people are still blocked? The deletion should ideally resolve the block as well.
Way to go, BlueSky. 🙄 Your new rules are now hiding lists that were created to protect us from the actual harassers who put us on lists falsely calling us an assortment of hostile, defamatory names, yet now you restricted a list calling them (the MAGA harassers) “Deplorables.” Your “help” is lame. 👎🏻
Supposedly there are lists where people have "consented" to let their posts be scraped for AI. I'm on one of those lists even though I did not consent to any such thing.
Thing is, on GitHub '24 they acknowledged that this might be an issue, they should have
1) either "list pending moderation verification" or
2) not allow this in the first place
instead, they just ran with it KNOWING about this, I would expect a statement from them on this to clarify why.
I don't need more reminders that trans people are targets for hate and that people would prefer we didn't exist.
Allowing users to lock their accounts and make them private is also an essential safety feature that's missing. We've been calling for this since 2023.
Sure, I guess my general consensus is that they should have anticipated this, your idea is solid also. I suppose my concern is just why they knew this a year ago and yet here we are... I am with you in terms of trans people btw, not against. But Nico, thanks for the reply... appreciate it!
After reading your post, I checked my own status and found I am on two groups of supposed transphobes? (Um, I'm nonbinary...). That explains why I see less trans content than I used to. Wish there was a way to address this.
I have likewise been added on these lists but and my follower / following is a mix so much so I'd need to check to see, but I noticed a drop across the board, content, notification, visibility you name it. Had it with them and I made that very clear on their first post.
Both of you, keep in mind - the overwhelming majority of malicious lists are used by 1 account - the list's creator. So, chances are, you're not affected by those lists in the slightest.
so you're saying it's acceptable to have users on your platform creating lists directly targeting people because of disabilities or other things they don't control. Because there are a lot of those. delete the list and kick the creator, problem solved.
So there's actually zero consequences for creating harassment or libelous lists, the creators just get to rename them to get them republicized?
This is not good enough. Harassment drives decent users off the site. You're giving KNOWN abusive users plausible deniability by letting them change names!
Wouldn't it be better for moderators to (a) completely remove the list at hand and (b) allow users that were added to starter packs to opt out from being added?
Comments
Surely a user ought to have control over the lists or starter packs that they appear in?
@bsky.app
Cheers
A list used for harassment is going to still be allowed to exist? Just "hidden"?
And you're still not going to give users a reliable way of getting themselves removed from libelous lists?!
Ditch the lists.
Entirely.
Period, full stop, no questions, no warnings. Stop enabling harassment. Give us the ability to remove ourselves from lists.
And ban Jesse Singal.
I don't really understand lists etc but it's a joke how trolls can just add us to awful lists to get us wrongly blocked/attacked by others.
And once that damage is done, too bad, they win - we can't message everyone and say "you can unblock me, I'm not really a porn bot".
I've been put on some and have had zero engagement with the account owner.
If I block user X, user X should NOT be allowed to then add me to a list. This is almost entirely done for harassment purposes.
This simple change would prevent a lot of harassment.
All it would do is prevent people from using lists to harass others from behind a block.
If I block you, you should not be able to add me to a list AFTER that point in time.
I thought I was really clear. If I block you, you should not have access to my account to then add me to an abusive list after the fact.
i.e. to lists designed to follow people.
i.e. hate-follow lists rather than block-lists or mute-lists
(resubmitted because I can't type worth shit)
One little change, one, will cut down on the work you need to do and make everyone on the platform safer
THIS RIGHT HERE FELLAS
Maybe there is a better approach to this that strikes a balance but I haven't heard it yet.
Lists are a good way to create a dictatorship
I look through them and pick out who to follow/block on a case by case basis.
and all the people who subscribe to this list are blocking you
Like double edged sword it will stop people from being on the ai labeler lists as well but there's gotta be something that works
If you block the list owner you are removed from the list and they can't add you to another
That way we control who is allowed to list us
Plus, Google has really good email tools.
It’s real. Use if if you have to.
That keeps adding me to normal list's even though we are mutually blocking each other. So my name won't appear to others on his/her lists. .... 👇
👉 Private lists, only visible to the creator
👉 Public lists, subject to moderation
👉 EU data laws: I should be able to disallow the use of personal data by other people. This is EU law!
👉 Blocking would then include: Don't use/store my data! -> I must be removed from your list!
Mod. servivces have a reputation to lose. That's a social costs — an incentive not to abuse.
Many public block lists are by accounts solely created for making blocklists. No social cost — don't care about errors.
Idea: Independent moderation less vulnerable to govs.
This is the only way to prevent harassment. And we all know it. 😡
Personally, while I see the potential for abuse, I like the concept of decentralized moderation.
This is definitely a step in the right direction
Personally I just manually block/mute.
If you can remove yourself from a list you consider abusive, the bad guys will also be able to remove themselves from lists you want them to be on ...
this is a social media site
"not caring"
is SOP (standard operating procedure)
It is up to the user to either accept its shortcomings, or not
If you do not, yet wish to stay, some things must be ignored, studiously
As my employer used to reply to me
"If you don't like it, leave"
OF COURSE NOT
just don't expect a SM site to care
Or to change
Until that change benefits it as well
it is not there yet
You are not a small website anymore. You have millions of users and need to be more professional if you want people to take you seriously.
Your demands that everyone has to suffer your opinions is not free speech. Just your arrogance.
Now feel free to exercise your freedom and block me. Fool.
"FW: Moderation Lists Misused to Defame My Profile" - 4/4/2025 8:56 AM
I *strongly* second what @spryoldlorax.bsky.social says.
The current system lets people I blocked—maybe for harassment—continue to harass me from behind a block, while I can’t find the blocked account to report. This shields harassers.
https://bsky.app/profile/spryoldlorax.bsky.social/post/3lmzadbi4a22y
What lists?
I found your list at the same time... thanks!!! 😇
1) either "list pending moderation verification" or
2) not allow this in the first place
instead, they just ran with it KNOWING about this, I would expect a statement from them on this to clarify why.
I don't need more reminders that trans people are targets for hate and that people would prefer we didn't exist.
Allowing users to lock their accounts and make them private is also an essential safety feature that's missing. We've been calling for this since 2023.
We told them they would be weaponized. And they were. Immediately.
Bluesky didn't listen then and they're not listening now.
This is not good enough. Harassment drives decent users off the site. You're giving KNOWN abusive users plausible deniability by letting them change names!