Kitsu's Next Steps

Kitsu, today, will be taking steps to silence & fully defederate from Mastodon.ART. This was a decision I've been keeping in the back of my mind, but today I will be acting upon it.

I should not have to fear a simple conversation.

No matter what type of dialogue I had, being federated against one of the "giants", and a community with one of the most extended defederation lists, I felt scared to speak about my opinion, for fear of any backlash I may receive. Before I've "calmed down" per se, I've already received backlash and harassment. I was called a racist in their defederation notes - something that couldn't be further from the truth. I was accused of creating a "racist darvo campaign".

I do not want to be noticed by their administrators. I've seen that MastoArt has used their powerful status to throw their weight around and get what they want.

I am not saying that no community should be punished, nor that users shouldn't be punished; I'm well aware that people can be the worst at times. But, people also make mistakes. As an administrator, it's not our job to punish others. It is our job to create an inviting and welcoming space.

They know they have power.

MastoArt has one of the longest defederation lists to date; they're not afraid to start a fight with other well-known, prominent servers. They've gone so far as to defederate from Firefish.social over a renote by the administrator. You read this correctly, a renote. While the administration is free to block whomever they like (a preferred tool of mine, actually!), I do not, in any good faith, believe that an inoffensive post being renoted by someone who liked it is grounds for an entire community being segregated and separated.

It should not be my job to thoroughly screen each user before I interact with them. It should be my job to enjoy interacting with my community and to promote a kind and inclusive space.

Furthermore, they're well aware of, or worse yet, actively participating in multiple blocklists; multiple of which have blocked over 1/2 of the current fediverse population.

Resolving these issues.

I understand that the MastoArt community isn't going to change administration because of a post made by some small group of servers. It's not my intention. However, I intend to point out the issues and show that respect and fear are two very different things.

When a man carries a gun all the time, the respect he thinks he’s getting might really be fear.

I want change to happen. I want to actively work with other users, administrators, and communities at large. Communication has always been one of my cornerstones, but from what I've seen, this is not communication. This is an abuse of power. But, I get their message loud and clear; comply with our rules, or nobody will federate with you, ever again.

Mastodon.ART, in the small chance that you do read this post.

Please, throw aside your gun. Choose respect over fear.