How can a mastodon user tell if their account is "hidden" or "limited" ?

[charlesdelavalleepoussin@mastodon.social]

How can a mastodon user tell if their account is "hidden" or "limited" ?

(www.reddit.com)

I see this a lot with accounts I want to follow.

1. Can admins do this without notifying the user?

2. Is it possible to see the reason accounts have been censored?

If the answers to any of these two questions is "no" then it seems mastodon is subject to abuse from biased/rogue admins and moderators.

cc @FediTips

#mastodon #censorship #fediverse #fedihelp

[charlesdelavalleepoussin@mastodon.social]

@FediTips

here's an example

DMW! (@damnyouwillis@mastodon.social)

44.3K Posts, 24 Following, 769 Followers · that dumbing of age guy who won't shut up about transformers

Mastodon (mastodon.social)

#censorship #mastodon #fediverse

[finchhaven@sfba.social]

@charlesdelavalleepoussin

"How can a mastodon user tell if their account is "hidden" or "limited" ?"

OK: assuming you do mean your own account:

1) Copy your profile URL and open a private window (Firefox terminology)

2) Paste your profile URL

You're now seeing your profile as any random member of the public

3) Does your profile show up?

Yes: not hidden

No: guess what...

Seems to work well enough for general diagnostics

Can't help you with any apps on any phones...

cc @FediTips

[charlesdelavalleepoussin@mastodon.social]

@FinchHaven @FediTips

thanks that's a useful tip to use a private window

how can I tell *why* other accounts have been hidden?

[charlesdelavalleepoussin@mastodon.social]

@footils @FediTips

ive heard from several people who have not been emailed a reason

(I too on previous servers had my account disabled completely with no reason and no response from the admin/owner, and also no reply for GDPR requests given they were based in the EU)

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@charlesdelavalleepoussin

Each admin is responsible for what goes on on their server, they are paying for it and keeping it alive. It is entirely their prerogative who they block or limit. People who disagree are free to move their accounts to other servers or set up their own.

If you think you've been blocked or limited unfairly, you can email the server admin using the contact email on their server's About page (for example your server's admin email is listed at https://mastodon.social/about ).

[charlesdelavalleepoussin@mastodon.social]

@FediTips

but they don't reply

and also "go find another server" is like "this restaurant is racist? go elsewhere". it puts the onus on the victim not the perpetrator

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@charlesdelavalleepoussin @footils

The email notification is only if it's your own server admin limiting/suspending your account.

Blocks from other servers do not generate any emails.

[charlesdelavalleepoussin@mastodon.social]

@FediTips @footils

my own admin on a previous server mstdn.social suspended me with no warning, no explanation

and no replies to emails

and no replies to GDPR requests

who holds the admins to account?

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@charlesdelavalleepoussin

Most accounts that are blocked are things like spambots, trolls, scammers etc. If admins were unable to block accounts against their will, the entire network would become toxic and unusable for everyone.

It's up to each admin to decide what is acceptable on their server, and users can decide which server to join based on what is acceptable there.

Being blocked doesn't make you a victim, it just means that that particular server doesn't want to communicate with you.

[charlesdelavalleepoussin@mastodon.social]

@FediTips

I'm not communicating with that server. I communicated with people I followed and who followed me.

Your privileged rationalisation of victimhood will age badly.

What I'm hearing is that there is zero mechanism for holding admins/owners to account. How convenient.

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@charlesdelavalleepoussin @footils

I am not a lawyer so I cannot comment on GDPR requests.

Admins are held to account by other admins, rogue servers that behave badly tend to get defederated and isolated. For example when the far right server Gab tried to join the Fedi, servers mostly defederated it.

Each server is independent by design, there is no central authority imposing a particular set of rules. A central authority would bring its own dangers of Musk etc taking over such an authority.

[charlesdelavalleepoussin@mastodon.social]

@FediTips @footils

have you not noticed how un-diverse mastodon is?

have you not questioned why?

a bunch of self-regulating bros? what could possibly be wrong with that?

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@charlesdelavalleepoussin

Who are you suggesting should regulate it? Elon Musk? Mark Zuckerberg? Donald Trump?

Every time there has been a centralised authority running a social network, it has ended up in the hands of billionaires that support hatred.

The idea of this place is to give the grassroots control of their social networks. If you would prefer social networks to be corporate, there are already plenty of corporate options.

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@charlesdelavalleepoussin

I'm not completely clear how an account being limited is victimhood?

What are you suggesting social networks should do instead, not limit accounts at all?

[footils@social.cologne]

@FediTips

I should have looked at this profile before interacting with an antisemite. Bye.

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@charlesdelavalleepoussin @footils

The lack of diversity on here is a serious problem but it's not going to be solved by allowing everyone to post whatever they want without ever limiting or blocking anyone.

There needs to be MORE moderation on here, not less. People need to be protected from hatred, not exposed to it.

We need more tools like reply controls and automatic alerts for moderators when bad keywords are used.

No one should be seeing hatred in their feeds due to lax moderation.

[feditips@social.growyourown.services]

@charlesdelavalleepoussin @footils

I follow a lot of people critical of the Fediverse on my personal account to keep tabs on how bad the problem is and what exactly is going wrong.

The main issue raised is too many purveyors of hatred being allowed to attack members of minorities. Allowing hate puts people off staying here, accounts posting hate need to be banned.

If you removed all limits on what accounts could say and do, it would make the situation much worse.

[charlesdelavalleepoussin@mastodon.social]

@FediTips

you show a lack of imagination

many people have suggested ideas such as

* mandatory transparency to ensure rogue admins are held to account

* public statstistics on admin behaviour incl GDPR complaince

* users having a right to a second binding opinion

* voting in supervisory groups / committees to balance rogue admins

* ... etc etc

but the aristocracy always ignore such ideas

the fediverse conferences as a result are very much self-congratulatory

[charlesdelavalleepoussin@mastodon.social]

@FediTips

you've shown a poor level of maturity (like some mastodon admins) and I can't make you understand

but this conversation will perhaps highlight to others what the issue is