I've been trying Lemmy for a little while and wasn't sure how to feel about it.
Today, I wanted to start blocking the most high-censorship instances until I could find a fully zero-censorship instance and simply block all the ones with censorship. Filter bots, not people.
When I looked into it further, I found out there are no zero-censorship instances, because Lemmy relies on a broken "federation" system where each instance is supposed to be able to fetch posts from other instances, but it's never been finished to reach a fully working state. Lemmy's official docs say you can't even do federation over Tor at all. This means it uses DNS, so it won't actually allow Lemmy instances to fetch posts from each other freely, it just gets blocked instantly and easily, every time the authorities feel like blocking anything.
So you can only ever have the "average joe lemmy" and "average joe reddit" with everything approved by the authorities, and then "tor copies of lemmy" and "tor copies of reddit" where you have free speech but you can only reach other nerds.
People seem to think Lemmy is different because this weird censorship fetish is extremely popular and most of you are happy to see bans happen to certain people, not just bots, so a small Lemmy that censors certain people feels fundamentally different from a big reddit that censors more people. But it's the exact same thing, it's reddit.
When reddit was smaller, you could say basically anything you wanted there, they just wouldn't let it reach the main audience. Then it got too big, and any tiny part of the audience you could reach would be too big, so they won't let you talk at all.
Lemmy is now the small part of reddit where you can say whatever you want, separated from the main audience, until too much growth happens and you have to move again.
It's not actually a solution to reddit. It's not designed to be different, it's designed to match the past today and then match reddit's present tomorrow, while being part of a system that's about the same in past, present, and future.
Last year, this year, and next year, you're posting somewhere it won't be seen by many people, and the system that charges people for ambulance rides is getting another year of ambulance ride revenue, facing no organized resistance. There's no difference here.
Lemmy urgently needs federation between onion service instances and DNS addresses in order to actually do what most users seem to wish it would do: allow discussion outside what the corporate authorities allow, while outgrowing reddit & helping undo the damage social media has done to human communication.
Edit - I was banned from my instance, and before being unbanned, some of my comments seem to have been removed. I apologize if I hurt anyone's feelings, but it seems pointless to try to discuss this topic here. I'll give a few more replies, and then suggest any further responses be directed to me on nostr, where there are no bans. I've also had a good time posting on PieFed while I was banned, so I'll probably keep spending time there. If anyone's curious, I had a thread about this topic on PieFed too. Btw, instead of the misplaced focus on bots, I should have said filter spam, not people earlier in this post.
When they were created, they were pressured to censor non-spammers, such as people who share CSAM or other forms of "child porn."
It's not. That's how DNS and IP addresses work, they can be blocked by pressing a few buttons. I also implied MAGA could make it permanent by using their guns on non-MAGA staff at places like ICANN offices, which is also true, not nonsensical.
I addressed this in my original post. This place (Lemmy/Earth) is overrun with people who are into stuff like this. You know that, and you're willingly ignore it, since you quoted it with the words "censorship fetish."
Making me repeat myself isn't gonna magically make Lemmy do much better than reddit.
Making me repeat myself also won't move past and present events out of the past and present.
Were they? How do you know that? I think it's more likely that the original lemmy.world admins want to censor that to begin with.
And when has this happened? Is there any good reason to assume it is going to happen?
Okay, so you'll have to get used to the fact that people, mostly, don't want zero censorship in their communities.
Past events and present events that you can't even name.
You know the answer.
Same way as you, difference is I'm not trying to lie or gaslight anyone.
More likely than what? I never said they don't.
I don't know, have you tried looking it up?
Yeah. hamas.ps has been down for almost 2 years, which is ongoing, and it's safe to assume it's due to the authorities.
Can't "get used to" something one is already used to.
Example of "get used to" being used correctly in a sentence:
Perhaps in the future, you'll have to get used to more people wanting to be in uncensored communities.
Incorrect. I have specified many times. Scroll up.
I do: They weren't. They just didn't want to host CSAM.
No, I think that they came to that decision on their own.
So no-one forced them then. So no pressure.
So you don't actually know, yet you claim it must have happened.
Never been there. I'm guessing it's a Hamas related site. I doubt it has anything necessarily to do with the US authorities or anything to do with Reddit or Lemmy concerns.
So what now? What's your next move? You know there's no interest in what you want.
You have finally named one example hamas.ps. You've provided no examples of any Lemmy community being shut down.
Incorrect.
Didn't ask, and the "no" is misplaced since this doesn't refute what I said, which is still true.
Incorrect. Learn what "pressure" means.
Incorrect. I'm not the one refusing to look things up.
That sounds batshit insane. Let me guess, you think the US doesn't control "Israel?" Fucking delusional.
Perhaps replying to someone else. Perhaps replying to you again.
Yet another weak gaslighting attempt.
You know there is interest in what I want.
Didn't ask.
Sorry, you think that they did want to host CSAM?
You are making assumptions about the lemmy.world admins that are completely groundless.
What "pressure" was imposed on them?
You made the claims. You back it up. The onus is on you to back your claims up in discussions.
Are you of the opinion that the US shuts down all sites online no matter where they are from?
"Yes, hamas.ps was the official website for Hamas until it was taken down sometime after September 2023. The site is no longer publicly accessible."
Not sure what this has to do with the Fediverse.
So nothing that gets what you want then.
There's no significant interest in what you want. You are a tiny minority.
I did. Do you have an example of a lemmy community shut down by a regulatory body?
For what?
Who? I'm not clicking through to your replies in separate tabs anymore, I only see what's in my notifications. This doesn't show me the context of what you're asking here.
Can you screenshot a place I've done that and circle the part where I did? No, because you're the one saying shit that's completely groundless.
I remember this question being answered where you're asking it. Scroll up.
Why should I? What do you see when you Google it? You keep ignoring these questions, and repeating your suggestion.
That's why I do. And when the onus isn't on me, sometimes I don't. Do you have a point? Is this somehow one of those claims where the onus is on me? If so, what claim (I forgot) and how is the onus on me? And bonus question, do you have any idea why I might have mistakenly not noticed the "onus" in this case?
Not sure what you're trying to ask. We are currently having this discussion on a website. I've been replying from sh.itjust.works for hours without it being taken down, and I"m pretty sure you've been using that same instance the whole time too. The very conversation we're having makes it pretty clear I could not uphold the opinion that no websites are allowed to be online.
Not sure what you're quoting, but sounds true.
Why did you bring it up then?
What do you mean?
You know there is significant interest in what I want. You know we are a significant minority.
I didn't ask if you asked what I didn't ask.
Same answer as the other times you asked.
Lemmy.world. You seemed to suggest they were somehow pressured into implementing rules against CSAM material.
Your memory is shocking.
You did not answer.
Burden of proof. Onus is on you.
I'm not going to stop. Non-negotiable.
You have never backed up a single claim with a single source. You make claims, you back them up. That's how it works.
I meant are you of the position that the USA exercises its long arm to shut down websites all across the world.
AI results.
I didn't. You did. You bought Hamas.ps. being taken offline.
That your efforts here are completely useless.
Both of these things can't be true. If there's enough interest, then go and make your own fork and edit of Lemmy to work in TOR.
Which is to say, no - you don't. And you're making things up.
OK, and?
Didn't ask. Also, read Small Gods (or honestly any book please)
Not again, no, because I remembered it being answered where you asked it.
I asked if there was a way that's true in this case. Is there?
I think you'll stop replying before me, even if you have to ban me and pretend that's me stopping replying.
What do you mean? You have some way of forcing me to do what you want?
Incorrect.
Correct, generally.
Clearly not for everyone. You're obviously not working this way right now. But I do, yes.
I think you should rephrase that to "are you dumb enough to think the USA doesn't exercise its long arm to shut down websites all across the world?"
OK, still sounds true, but kinda embarrassing to be quoting here out of nowhere.
Incorrect. Scroll up.
Didn't ask. I asked why you brought up the topic we were discussing, in which Hamas.ps had been one of the subtopics.
Incorrect then.
Incorrect. I've only been saying true things, so without reading the part you were responding to here, I can assume it was two things I said which were both true.
Why would I do that?
This is you admitting you've asked and been answered multiple times, and still continued dishonestly repeating yourself.
Are you starting to break out of the dishonesty, or just getting sloppy?
Incorrect.
Any evidence for your claim that lemmy.world mods were pressured into this?
If what is true?
No, just I'm not going to change my position.
Can you show me some examples of the USA doing this?
Hamas.ps was first mentioned by you, not me.
How else is it going to get done? How else do you plan to get Lemmy on TOR?
I doubt very much you even know what you're asking me in most of these posts, to be frank. Your memory of my prior replies is terrible.
Yeah, but why did you put this right after a quote of yet another place where you ignored what I said in yet another one of my replies?
I don't know, I'm not scrolling up to check.
That doesn't make "non-negotiable" an applicable term to inject when begging someone to do something for you, lmao
Too tired of your shit to read the part where you quoted what you're asking for examples of, let alone hold your hand through Google searches.
Didn't ask. I asked why you brought up the topic we were discussing, in which Hamas.ps had been one of the subtopics.
Why did you just make me repeat that? Just to abusively waste my time and energy, right?
I don't know, is it? Why are you asking like I would know?
I don't, why are you asking like I do? Just to abusively waste my time and energy, right?
I don't care. Where's your evidence?
My point exactly. You barely know what you're replying to.
So, no, you can't. You make claims and everyone has to disprove them.
No, you referenced them suddenly as a site that was shut down.
"Abusive"? Am I keeping you here?
If you don't plan to get lemmy on TOR, then what's the point of any of this?
If you don't care about my question, why are you asking one?
Nope. You don't have one.
Incorrect.
Not sure what you're saying, but doesn't sound like it makes sense.
Incorrect. You brought up the topic they were a subtopic in. Why do you keep repeating the same lies? Is there a reason other than that you're deeply mentally ill?
Why do you keep acting like you need everything repeated so many times? Is there a reason other than that you're a pathologically abusive person?
I'm not holding you captive, making you respond. That it upsets you so much is an entirely self-inflicted problem.
Here's you first mentioning them.
I didn't ask if you were. Why waste time typing that?
I don't understand. How much do you mean? What problem? Whose self?
First mentioning what, and why are you giving me a link to my own post?
I didn't ask if you asked. Why waste time typing that?
You keep crying about me abusing you.
You can't be serious. You really can't be serious. You can't trace back 1 post to see what I was referring to there in the source?
It wasn't a waste of time, my words matter.
Incorrect. Perhaps you have "crying" confused with "replying."
I think I'm kinda good at being serious, actually.
Repeating it doesn't make me agree.
What do you mean?
Didn't ask. Why waste time?
Are you of the opinion that when I said "crying" there I literally thought you were in tears at your keyboard?
You mentioned Hamas.ps first. The timeline shows this. Here is the link. You genuinely forgot that was what I posted to you?
Didn't ask if you asked.
You tell me, you're the one that keeps doing it.
Nope. Are you still pretending my straightforwardness makes it hard to believe I can understand euphemisms? (Rhetorical question, obviously you are)
Is there a point here?
Forgot what?
I neither view you as straight-forward, nor able to understand euphemisms.
Yes, you claimed I bought up Hamas.ps first. I did not. You did. The evidence backs that up.
Replying late because of my ban
This seems like a lie, but if true, it's something you need to work on
Incorrect
Didn't ask, don't care
Heads up, if you reply to this I might not see it because I was banned here so it doesn't seem worth trying to have much discussion here. If you have anything to say to me, try the nostr version of this thread