submitted 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) by [M] to c/lemmyworld@lemmy.world
 

Update:
The comments from this post will not be removed as to preserve the discussion around the announcement. Any continued discussions outside of this thread that violate server rules will be removed. We feel that everyone that has an opinion, and wanted to vent, has been heard.

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Original post:
Yesterday, we received information about the planned federation by Hexbear. The announcement thread can be found here: https://www.hexbear.net/post/280770. After reviewing the thread and the comments, it became evident that allowing Hexbear to federate would violate our rules.

Our code of conduct and server rules can be found here.

The announcement included several concerning statements, as highlighted below:

  • β€œPlease try to keep the dirtbag lib-dunking to hexbear itself. Do not follow the Chapo Rules of Posting, instead try to engage utilizing informed rhetoric with sources to dismantle western propaganda. Posting the western atrocity propaganda and pig poop balls is hilarious but will pretty quickly get you banned and if enough of us do it defederated.”
  • β€œThe West's role in the world, through organizations such as NATO, the IMF, and the World Bank - among many others - are deeply harmful to the billions of people living both inside and outside of their imperial core.”
  • β€œThese organizations constitute the modern imperial order, with the United States at its heart - we are not fooled by the term "rules-based international order." It is in the Left's interest for these organizations to be demolished. When and how this will occur, and what precisely comes after, is the cause of great debate and discussion on this site, but it is necessary for a better world.”

The rhetoric and goal of Hexbar are clear based on their announcement: to "dismantle western propaganda" and "demolish organizations such as NATO” shows that Hexbar has no intention of "respecting the rules of the community instance in which they are posting/commenting.” It’s to push their beliefs and ideology.

In addition, several comments from a Hexbear admin, demonstrate that instance rules will not be respected.

Here are some examples:

β€œI can assure you there will be no lemmygrad brigades, that energy would be better funneled into the current war against liberalism on the wider fediverse.”

β€œAll loyal, honest, active and upright Communists must unite to oppose the liberal tendencies shown by certain people among us, and set them on the right path. This is one of the tasks on our ideological front.”

Overall community comments:

To clarify, for those who have inquired about why Hexbear versus Lemmygrad, it should be noted that we are currently exploring the possibility of defederating from Lemmygrad as well based on similar comments Hexbear has made.

Defederation should only be considered as a last resort. However, based on their comments and behavior, no positive outcomes can be expected.

We made the decision to preemptively defederate from Hexbear for these reasons. While we understand that not everyone may agree with our decision, we believe it is important to prioritize the best interests of our community.

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[–] 6 points 3 years ago (2 children)

I have no idea who Hexbear is, but it's well documented how th IMF and World Bank work to endebt developing countries to the US's corporate rule and then steal all their resources... Are we... Not allowed to talk about that here?

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago

    Personally, I'd rather just block the stuff I don't like rather than have lemmy.world trying to decide "who's worthy of federation".

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago* (15 children)

    Not in favour of this.

    I chose Lemmy.world because I wanted an instance that would federate even with people I might disagree with. If it's illegal and abusive, sure. But to defederate on ideological grounds? I was planning a recurring donation but this makes me consider setting up my own instance.

    They're welcome to whatever discussions they want to have on their instance. As long as they respect the rules of other instances when they're here, then everybody wins.

    As for their point about dismantling western propaganda - if they have documented sources then let's have a conversation. It's not like there isn't western propaganda

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    [–] 3 points 3 years ago

    I echo the dissatisfaction people have with this and won't be donating again. This is Lemmy.world not Lemmy.(we need a safe space from the communists)

    The fact you were upset about Beehaw's defederation but then turn around and do this is massive hypocrisy.

    This is you imposing your personal ideology on your users. The fact you lead with those 3 "concerning statements" tells us everything. You only like free speech when it aligns with your own beliefs.

    Shame.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago)

    I'm not in favour of pre-emptive defederating. It feels like censorship doing so and that bothers me.

    1. Their note to their users specifically says to keep their anti establishment opinions and trolling to their own communities and don't spread it further for fear of defederation. It hardly sounds threatening to us.

    2. Defederating can happen at any point, and I think would be better kept as a reactive response and last resort rather than proactive.

    3. The more our large instances start fracturing and closing off from one another the less useful Lemmy will become. You're hardly blocking out an idealogy, if hexbear users wanted in they could just sign up and that would make it harder to find them. At least having them federated makes it easy to filter out @hexbear if we wanted.

    4. Practicing tolerance goes both ways. Calling communities 'them' vs 'us' and judging a group based on the noise of the few doesn't seem like the right approach. If hexbear became a problem and moderators complained of hate speech and conflict then absolutely we use the tools we have to keep things functioning, but filtering out groups because we don't like 'their' belief systems will make us judgemental and biased as a result. This is a platform to promote discussion not an echo chamber to gather like minded opinions and bounce them off each other in perpetuity.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    okay this is freaking wild:

    We need a sub dedicated to bot building, trolling and brigading effectively. Screw morals, or decency. They’re tools that maintain the status quo.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    What a disappointingly reactionary approach to federation.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    I have lurked here for a long time, but I just don't understand the logic here. I read the statement that was linked here, and it just seemed like they were saying that they should be respectful and follow our rules? ... Isn't dismantling propaganda... through "informed rhetoric" a good thing? Why are NATO, the IMF or World Bank automatically good? ... Aren't we just creating a bubble by preemptively blocking a large lemmy instance just because we don't like their political speech? As far as I can tell they aren't promoting racism or bigotry. Has lemmy.world preemptively banned nazi or right-wing instances?

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    [–] 2 points 3 years ago (7 children)

    Why is it wrong to be critical of western propaganda?

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    [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    Right, so because a community has different views than the leftists you all think it's your place to "protect" users preemptively without discussion or reason, basically fucking worse than Reddit?

    You'd better think long and hard on that.

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  • Gotta say, pre-emptive defederation seems like a bit of an over reaction. There's plenty of leftists in other instances, not just hexbear and lemmygrad. Hell, I'm an anarchist that regularly comments on political/social threads in this instance, it doesn't seem to be an issue. Lemmy in general is pretty obviously far left leaning. I don't see the harm in federating with hexbear, unless they show themselves to be actively harassing or trolling. But you'd have to federate first to find out if they will

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    You guys really just want people who think the same way as you on your instance. You should clearly state that instead of letting people waste their time here.

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  • Disappointing as fuck. You're defedarating based on ideological differences and a guess that they won't engage in good faith? And you're reaching that paltry conclusion after cherry picking posts?

    Not to mention the posts you've shared aren't bad at all? They're literally asking their users to engage properly in a civil manner.

    Big yikes man.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago*

    L.

    And that's why I'm glad my main accounts are not on world, which has just been a different flavored, smaller Reddit since its inception.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago)

    This is too quick of a movement towards defederation. Except in the most extreme of circumstances, it should be up to individual users whether they want to engage with other communities, and users can always block communities they find objectionable. It is not in the best interest of users to treat them as being incapable of making their own reasoned decisions about this kind of thing.

    Fortunately, thanks to the wonders of the fediverse, I can just make a new account on a different instance and start engaging with Lemmy that way. Anyone have any recommendations on alternatives to lemmy.world?

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    last resort

    preemptive

    ??

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    Being in favor or support of the status quo is also pushing an ideology.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (7 children)

    Freedom of speech does not constitute an obligation to listen.

    Good for you!

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago* (4 children)

    Exactly. Freedom of speech != Freedom from social consequences

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (3 children)

    Well, in a truly "free" society, yes freedom of speech would constitute freedom from "social consequences." However, the United States, and in fact, no Earth government, is a truly free society. There are rules and laws that exist, thus restricting freedoms. However, specifically regarding freedom of speech as it is mentioned in US law, it specifically is a protection for citizens from retaliation by the US government, and does not cover interactions between citizens.

    So I wouldn't say "freedom of speech doesnt mean freedom from social consequences," but rather "freedom of speech does not include a requirement that others listen." There are laws with regards to how other citizens can respond, including laws against assault and libel and such. But there is no law that says anyone must to listen to what you have to say simply because you have the freedom to say it. Thats quite a preposterous idea.

    At least in the US, each citizen has the right to say what they choose within the constraints established by law, and to choose who they will listen to.

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    [–] 1 point 3 years ago (5 children)

    Sorry, but talking against NATO means violating lemmy.world rules? What the hell, I’m out of here.

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