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Please report any account that tells you that you need to verify your #Mastodon account to continue using it through a private message. It is a scam. We do not require identity verification. Real staff accounts either have a special role badge on their profile or are verified through the joinmastodon.org domain and will typically never reach out through private messages.
in reply to Eugen Rochko

can you PLEASE find a way to carry hashtags through to replies? It will be the single most important thing you ever do to increase engagement across people's posts
in reply to Eugen Rochko

I want to step in and point out that there’s a lot of misinformation circulating.

Some people have been incorrectly claiming that if one country passes a certain law, then everyone — everywhere — must comply with it.

That’s not how jurisdiction works.

You’re responsible for following the laws of your own country. Your government can’t impose its laws on the entire world, and neither can any other government.

For example, if Russia suddenly requires that anyone signing up for a website must pay $5 and submit a DNA sample — but your site, and you are based in France — you’re under no obligation to comply. Russia can make whatever demands it wants, but you’re not Russian, and it’s not your responsibility to enforce their laws.

in reply to Linux Is Best

@Linux

What is particularly troubling about #Bluesky is their aggressive policy of obeying in advance all laws from any jurisdiction. They banned Turkish dissidents under this rationale, and are now preemptively doing UK ID verification. It makes one think these reasons are pretextual, or at the very least cowardly.

in reply to Mastodon Migration

@mastodonmigration

Blue Sky is a corporation trying to please its shareholders.

I also don’t know where Blue Sky’s offices are. If they’re registered in a particular country, then they’re subject to that country’s jurisdiction.

But if you're running a forum or a Fediverse site, and neither you nor your server is located there, you can tell them to go to hell — because it’s not your problem.

reshared this

in reply to Linux Is Best

@Linux

All valid points. And that is sort of the whole point. Bluesky, as a US corporation without apparently very deep pockets has got to be afraid of their legal exposure if only due to the potential cost of litigation. So, they are not well situated to protect their user's privacy rights.

in reply to Mastodon Migration

@mastodonmigration

I’ve supposedly violated the laws of several countries in the past when I ran a forum community. I was allegedly summoned, sued, and even "lost" cases simply because I didn’t acknowledge them or show up. But I couldn’t care less then, and I still don’t — because it was all political theater. I wasn’t a citizen of those countries.

Back in the day, my forum had over 20 million users. I focused solely on following the laws of my own country — not the laws of every country on the planet.

in reply to Linux Is Best

@Linux @mastodonmigration this reminds me when The Bay named and shamed US companies when they set them letters.
Fantastic work.
in reply to vandorb12

@vandorb12 @mastodonmigration

Arguably, The Pirate Bay was violating international copyright law — not just the laws of a single nation.

Everyone who has challenged my comment keeps citing extreme cases as examples. But that’s exactly the issue: those are extreme circumstances — just like The Pirate Bay itself.

If you’re reckless enough to violate global, internationally recognized laws, then yes, that’s a problem. But you are not obligated to recognize the laws of every country on Earth, nor can any one nation claim the right to make laws for the entire planet.

in reply to Linux Is Best

@Linux @mastodonmigration dude, there's no such thing as INTERNATIONAL LAW. We have international treaties that facilitate agreements between States. Those treaties are the only reason why extradition for crimes commited outside of the prosecuting State can exist.
If we had international law, then we would need international representation and international taxation.
Last I recall, I never had to pay a percentage of my wages to any international body.
in reply to Mastodon Migration

@mastodonmigration @Linux for most, all worries could be eliminated by adhering to the GDPR. But the path to riches is more constrained. More enticing, is building on a no holds barred platform that pays big for authoritarian control.
in reply to The Vampire Fish Queen

@TheVampireFishQueen @mastodonmigration

I personally, disagree with Blue Sky's stance on this. But I am also not trying to please shareholders either.

I get why some sites choose to block UK users — it’s the path of least resistance. But I’d rather not take that route.

My goal isn’t to fragment access or limit the reach of the site, especially when there’s no legal obligation to comply with UK-specific laws just because someone from there signs up.

As long as I’m not operating in or targeting the UK, I’m within my rights to keep registration open. UK users are responsible for understanding their own local laws — that burden doesn’t automatically fall on every website they visit.

Blocking might be easy, but it’s not necessary — and it’s definitely not the only responsible option.

in reply to Linux Is Best

@Linux @mastodonmigration The act applies extras territorially. So please be careful if you run a Mastodon server with UK users and have anyone involved in your team that is personally subject to UK jurisdiction.

Edit: Removed "not true" after re-reading your post.

This entry was edited (5 months ago)
in reply to Just a trash panda 🦝

@trashpanda @mastodonmigration

They can word it anyway they want, but they cannot enforce their laws on every nation on the planet and every citizen everywhere.

That is not how the world works.

If it did, we'd all be in deep trouble with Russia, China, and the United States dictating terms to everyone on earth.

Thankfully, it does not work that way.

in reply to Linux Is Best

@Linux @trashpanda @mastodonmigration
Australian hacker was charged with crimes in USA.
Was arrested in Australia and extradited to the USA.

Some countries will arrest and extradite their citizens under international agreements.

USA will seek to extradite (remember Julian Assange?) foreign citizens while not extraditing (except accidentally as ICE is doing) it's own citizens.

in reply to skua

@skua @trashpanda @mastodonmigration

I feel like you're reaching.

Wiki Leaks, was leaking state secrets. They became an international skeptical and yes, America made a deal with Australia.

That does not mean you need to comply with the laws of every foreign country, and that every foreign country can make laws that apply to everyone on earth.

in reply to skua

@skua @Linux @mastodonmigration Thank you. I feel like I have been blocked now for the reasonable position of pointing out that there are real legal risks to operating a global platform with a global team in violation of any country's laws.
in reply to Just a trash panda 🦝

@trashpanda
Aren't we living in ridiculous times?
(rhetorical question)

It's a quirky space that Johanna Mastodon made for us. I get that blocky feeling occasionally too. People sure got their triggers.

As far as risks go, IMO operators need to quantify the risk of being A. charged under their own local laws, & B. being extradited to face foreign charges.
B. seems very difficult to judge unless your country always refuses to extradite.

I think the risk is low if local laws are followed.

This entry was edited (5 months ago)
in reply to Eugen Rochko

I'm in danger

mastodon.social/@danvolchek/11…

Unknown parent

in reply to Eugen Rochko

This targeted many game plays of our once per day #HashTagGames tonight at around 9:30pm EST. Thanks for the quick suspension of that account.

@paul

in reply to Eugen Rochko

i couldn’t. Got a notification email, but no @ reply or mention to my account was visible (probably already moderated or such).
Unknown parent

in reply to Eugen Rochko

Timely warning. Just received one (and reported it immediately).
Suggestion: maybe we need a "Phishing" category in the reporting process. And a "Spam" while we're at it.
Unknown parent

mastodon - Link to source
Len

it's a social engineering scam as old as the very bones of the Earth.

In seven thousand years, our descendents will still be trying to lie their way into gaining access to whatever secure accounts they have in the future, by claiming they're the admins.

What makes you think this has anything whatsoever to do with Mastodon in particular?

This entry was edited (5 months ago)
in reply to Eugen Rochko

Admins could search an delete.
This entry was edited (5 months ago)
in reply to Eugen Rochko

I tried to report such an account (@mastodonbot1) and as a result I got an error message from you ("404 Record not found"). So why report and waiste time?
in reply to Eugen Rochko

Seems to me confusing - "404" - if at the same time the - suspended - account is still been displayed. Communicating that would be clearer.
in reply to Eugen Rochko

so if they posted like 20 messages with the same message should I select all or just like 2 and then report?

For me I think that selecting just 2 which look alike would be more practical.

Does Mastodon have like any "best practice" when dealing with scammers?

Also if Anna123666 hasn't been suspended yet(haven't checked) please help.

Here's a screenshot

#Mastodon #BestPractice #ScamBot #SpamBot #Anna123666

This entry was edited (5 months ago)
in reply to Eugen Rochko

Can you clarify "typically never"? Does that mean that sometimes they will reach out rhat way?