The Kolektiva raid reminds us that it’s important to stand with your users in the #fediverse too.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/07/fbi-seizure-mastodon-server-wakeup-call-fediverse-users-and-hosts-protect-their
@eff Would really love to get end to end encryption for DMs at the very least
@SirTapTap @eff it's planned, but who knows how long it'll take
@lashman @SirTapTap @eff technically there's nothing that STOPS you from doing it now with the content of the message, though much like with encrypted email you can still read the from and to. Could probably be trivially implemented as a browser addon. (since end to end encryption means your server can NOT have your private keys for decryption anyways)
@whitey Oh I know there's possible ways, but IMO it should be a standard expectation (from the word private) with any major service and average people generally only do security stuff when either forced or if it's insanely easy.
@SirTapTap @eff
Even if they do (and I'm absolutely in favor of encrypting anything that reasonably can be encrypted) this isn't an ideal place for highly sensitive conversations. Protect yourself by separating those kinds ot discussion form social media.
@eff Is there any guide of best practices for single-user instance operators wanting to avoid unnecessary legal liability?
@eff I missed this when it happened. I'm sharing the original announcement for anyone else who wants to read it too. https://kolektiva.social/@admin/110637031574056150
@eff Agreed, but we should also be glad that we’re not on one mega-platform. If they shut down one instance it doesn’t shut down the whole Fediverse network. That’s resilience in a nutshell.
@shaunyata Not to be too much of a shill for EFF, but adversarial interoperability is a major point of order in their advocacy that I have seen and the Fediverse is an almost perfect demonstration of it working well.
@eff Do not underestimate this CSAM matter. As the recent attention from Facebook/Threads illustrates, big tech is starting to wake up to the danger the Fediverse represents to their regime of surveillance capitalism. The ostensible justification for attacking the Fediverse in the name of "rooting out child pornography" is a threat we need to take seriously.
@mastodonmigration @eff This can't be boosted enough.
@mastodonmigration @eff You read my mind, MM.
Since such APIs for scanning #CSAM will never be open and free (so that criminals can not "test" materials before publication) then the only option is a decent #moderation #fediverse. But decent means actually manually reviewing all photo/video material published on the servers. And this, in turn, indicates that instances should be no more than real moderation capabilities. Such manual moderation does not seem realistic on instances with tens-hundreds of thousands of accounts.
@mastodonmigration @eff Bittorrent was a nice protocol – until some people used it to distribute copyrighted material. These days, the Bittorrent protocol is blocked in many places.
This would work against ActivityPub as well: Claim there are "too many" people using it for an illegal purpose, and encourage/require ISPs to block it.
"No one controls how ActivityPub is used! We can't prevent abuse! We must block it!" Unfortunately, this kind of argument works against any decentralized setup.
@mastodonmigration @eschnett @eff Washington Post made an entire article about Mastodon being solely for child exploitation. It's unreal. If you're seeing that material, fucking report it. I'm guessing you had to go looking for it though.
And that article was used by Senator Dick Durbin to push the STOP CSAM Act (which doesn't actually stop CSAM -- but it weakens encryption)
Here's the article @eff did yesterday on why the Stop CSAM bill is so bad
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/07/ndaa-no-place-sweeping-internet-legislation-stop-csam-act
And, here's an action from EFF to contact your Congresspeople and ask them to oppose STOP CSAM
https://act.eff.org/action/tell-congress-don-t-outlaw-encrypted-applications
@jdp23 @eff @speculater @eschnett Remember when Dick Durbin aced out Sheldon Whitehouse for Judiciary Chairman even though he was already Whip. Sad day for the country.
@mastodonmigration F---ing Dems. Don't get me started, it's almost midnight here, I need to get some sleep! 
@jdp23 OK, sleep well. The world will still need saving tomorrow.
Also STOP CSAM is only one of the bad internet bills they're potentially trying to sneak through this week. EARN IT also weakens encryption. KOSA is especially harmful to LGBTQ+ people. Cooper Davis Act turns tech companies into DEA informants.
EFF's got actions on all of them in this thread. https://mastodon.social/@eff/110775891238303192
@speculater @mastodonmigration @eschnett @eff
There needs to be an effort by the community to defend against such allegations.
But how do you defend yourself against a major new source? Especially of they print any 'we're sorry' message about a previous article on page N+1?
@speculater @mastodonmigration @eschnett @eff
Such things fall into a similar camp to 'parents sue social Media companies for damaging their children'.
What is the damage? Being socially and pro-LGBTQ+ for conservative parents? What?
The entire 'Think Of The Children' narrative is a figleaf for suppressing stuff you don't like through the backdoor.
It's never about children, water fountains, bathrooms, condoms or abortions.
@MeiLin @speculater @eschnett @eff On the right they seem to accuse anyone they don't like of being a 'pedo' sooner or later. This is nothing new.
@MeiLin @speculater @eschnett @eff Good question. Corporations have marketing communications departments with PR professionals who specialize in "crisis management". All we have is us. Think we will do just fine.
Already posts like this one are asking questions. We are not stupid, and we are not powerless. If this is a 'hit job,' we will figure it out. If we need to shore up our defenses, we will do that too. Its our network, and we are not going to let anyone mess with it.
@mastodonmigration @speculater @eschnett @eff
Don't we have a few marketing and PR professionals stacked in some Mastodon server somewhere?
Sic them on this kind of narrative.
@MeiLin @speculater @eschnett @eff Yeah, there must be. Think it's already happening. One of the great things about an open social media collective like the Fediverse, is that everyone has agency and can act independently in what they see as the interest of the whole. People bring their respective skills to bear. It's somewhat chaotic, but very effective.
@eff come and raid my server FBI! i dare you! you can claw my furries posts out of my cold dead hands
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@eff@mastodon.social Encrypt everything, not only in transit, but also at rest.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:3_states_of_data.jpg
@eff woaaaaa woozaaa
@eff My girlfriend Leila was one of the first employees in Mitch and Mike's Cambridge office back in the day.
Not sure it was a paid position, but she got a job recommendation letter from Mitch Kapor, which is nice.
One of the best investments I ever made. Too bad the girlfriend thing did not work out...
@eff so true
@eff Under civil forfeiture, American cops are incentivised to steal as much valuable electronics as they can. Untill there's reform of the civil forfeiture rules, overly broad seizures of potentially fenceable property are unlikely to decline.
@eff I don't think it says in the article, but somewhere else someone mentioned that the important thing is: don't be an activist and run a server....