An important PSA for people who are active on #Bluesky and who, upon hearing that the ICE account was officially verified, are saying: "I will just block it."
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@sloanlance not just ICE but also 4Chan-minded bad actors that may harass users blocking gov accounts
@_elena
Ok. Makes sense, I guess. It's good to know the risks.PS: I remember the days when 4Chan was just silly crap.
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@u_urban @_elena I feel like all the people who went to Bluesky because Twitter died and became the rabid zombie X learned precisely nothing. It is inevitable that Bluesky will hurt them too, but they will not go to Mastodon because any of a number of silly reasons they'll fight tooth and nail not to let go of.
I suppose a Redsky will open up and they'll go to it, then it will go bad and then a Puke Green Sky will open up and they'll go to that, and then a Gangrene Sky will open...
There is one thing that Bluesky has and the Fediverse still hasn't fully implemented: shared block lists are still not supported natively by ActivityPub and require external, fragmented implementations. Bluesky has account labeling services that can work on a per-account or per-post basis, and shared lists that can be used as either starter packs or banlists. The latter is still WIP on Mastodon's side, because of the focus on being opt-in. -
An important PSA for people who are active on #Bluesky and who, upon hearing that the ICE account was officially verified, are saying: "I will just block it."
Blocking on Bluesky is NOT PRIVATE: it's very easy to see who is blocking any account by visiting sites that list that information.
I took a screenshot from https://clearsky.app, listing all the accounts that are blocking ICE (I pixelated avatars and usernames for privacy purposes).
The safest bet is to mute (that info is private)
@_elena
What the hell - why would this be public information? Do they WANT to encourage abuse?
@dgoldsmith -
@_elena I'm not sure if blocking the bridge also blocks linked posts. As far as I can tell on my Bsky account the link to your OP that I shared on Bsky still resolves correctly. Maybe blocking the bridge is a different thing. Or I don't know lol.
@hyperreal @_elena Blocking the bridge isn't going to stop links from working because links just work whether the bridge exists or not. Bridgy Fed just makes it so you have one account on, say Mastodon, and it duplicates your posts to Bsky. But links from there to here will work because links are just links.
To illustrate, blocking the bridge to prevent linking to a Mastodon is like blocking Google Maps and thinking that will prevent the postal service from finding your home address.
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@hyperreal @_elena Blocking the bridge isn't going to stop links from working because links just work whether the bridge exists or not. Bridgy Fed just makes it so you have one account on, say Mastodon, and it duplicates your posts to Bsky. But links from there to here will work because links are just links.
To illustrate, blocking the bridge to prevent linking to a Mastodon is like blocking Google Maps and thinking that will prevent the postal service from finding your home address.
@hyperreal Some fun notes about the bridge, if you're bridged, any interactions with other bridged accounts will also show in Bsky. E.g., if you and Elena's accounts were bridged, this entire reply thread would show in Bsky (b/c I am too). Since neither of you are, none of this thread, including my replies, show over there. If I were to quote post them, they would appear on Bsky with just links to each post I'm quoting. If you were bridged and I quote posted, it would show a regular quote post.
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@_elena
What the hell - why would this be public information? Do they WANT to encourage abuse?
@dgoldsmith@xinit@mastodon.coffee @_elena@mastodon.social @dgoldsmith@mastodon.social There is a dedicated docs page answering your questions.
https://docs.bsky.app/blog/block-implementation -
An important PSA for people who are active on #Bluesky and who, upon hearing that the ICE account was officially verified, are saying: "I will just block it."
Blocking on Bluesky is NOT PRIVATE: it's very easy to see who is blocking any account by visiting sites that list that information.
I took a screenshot from https://clearsky.app, listing all the accounts that are blocking ICE (I pixelated avatars and usernames for privacy purposes).
The safest bet is to mute (that info is private)
@_elena I'd also expect US State Security to have other ways of getting the info, whether you block them, delete posts etc
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I closed my account there quite a while back but only de-bridged today. I'm sad to no longer see posts from certain people I followed but overall I feel a whole lot better.
@grb090423
>I'm sad to no longer see posts from certain people I followed (...)You can follow bridged accounts even without your account itself being bridged.
Following a bridge is simply a opt-in to federate your posts to Bluesky and its users
@_elena @hyperreal -
@grb090423
>I'm sad to no longer see posts from certain people I followed (...)You can follow bridged accounts even without your account itself being bridged.
Following a bridge is simply a opt-in to federate your posts to Bluesky and its users
@_elena @hyperreal -
An important PSA for people who are active on #Bluesky and who, upon hearing that the ICE account was officially verified, are saying: "I will just block it."
Blocking on Bluesky is NOT PRIVATE: it's very easy to see who is blocking any account by visiting sites that list that information.
I took a screenshot from https://clearsky.app, listing all the accounts that are blocking ICE (I pixelated avatars and usernames for privacy purposes).
The safest bet is to mute (that info is private)
@_elena Not that I approve of bsky's design choices, their decision to make blocks public is very crypto-coded. Unsurprising since the designers are basically a bunch of coiners.
But also I'd like to remind everyone that all of your posts, reposts, and likes on social media that are anti-ICE or anti-Trump are also very public. So like, be aware of your threat models, certainly. But let's also be realistic and not worry about the pennies when many of us are visibly carrying many pounds.
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I'm well aware that posting this info on the Fediverse seems like a pointless exercise, but it's to raise awareness and spread the word to people active in BOTH places.
I was never really active on #Bluesky and entirely stopped using it months ago but there's no point in posting this info there because I have zero reach. Or rather: 1100+ followers and 1-2 likes (at best!) and zero comments for any post. It's like I'm shadow-banned.
If you use it and enjoy it no judgement but please be safe!
I mean some of us corporate hating anarchists & socialists can pass the information over to our bluesky using friends & family.
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An important PSA for people who are active on #Bluesky and who, upon hearing that the ICE account was officially verified, are saying: "I will just block it."
Blocking on Bluesky is NOT PRIVATE: it's very easy to see who is blocking any account by visiting sites that list that information.
I took a screenshot from https://clearsky.app, listing all the accounts that are blocking ICE (I pixelated avatars and usernames for privacy purposes).
The safest bet is to mute (that info is private)
@_elena oh..
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An important PSA for people who are active on #Bluesky and who, upon hearing that the ICE account was officially verified, are saying: "I will just block it."
Blocking on Bluesky is NOT PRIVATE: it's very easy to see who is blocking any account by visiting sites that list that information.
I took a screenshot from https://clearsky.app, listing all the accounts that are blocking ICE (I pixelated avatars and usernames for privacy purposes).
The safest bet is to mute (that info is private)
@_elena
Yep, stop bridging the scums that are corprite shit. I left Fakebook and TwitterDump, I did not join TikTok, BlueSky for the same resions.
I built a Fediverse server so i dont have to see the shit and i dont want to see it here -
@Saupreiss@pfalz.social @_elena@mastodon.social BTW: is it relayed to the instance right away, or only when the blocked person attempts to reply or otherwise use a feature that is to be blocked?
Either way, blocks are harmful specifically because they tell the person they're blocked. Which is why I strongly prefer mutes instead.@divVerent @Saupreiss @_elena
On the other hand, if you want to *send a message* to that person, then blocking might be exactly what you want to do. -
@lazysupper @_elena I don't really know but it makes sense based on the decentralized nature of the protocol. The block v. mute must be similar to here in that if they're muted I just don't see anything by them but if I block they can't see me either.
To do that in a decentralized system you'd have to get every server that shows your stuff to not show it to them. To do that you have to tell the server that you want that done. This is going to be public info because you want all servers.
@crazyeddie
Ah, I guess that makes sense. It's just imo showing up as blocked feels antithetical to the purpose, in part, of blocking.
@_elena -
An important PSA for people who are active on #Bluesky and who, upon hearing that the ICE account was officially verified, are saying: "I will just block it."
Blocking on Bluesky is NOT PRIVATE: it's very easy to see who is blocking any account by visiting sites that list that information.
I took a screenshot from https://clearsky.app, listing all the accounts that are blocking ICE (I pixelated avatars and usernames for privacy purposes).
The safest bet is to mute (that info is private)
@_elena wouldn't you *want* ice to see how unpopular they are? How hated they are? Wouldn't you want people to know that you don't fuck with ice? I feel like I'm missing something
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An important PSA for people who are active on #Bluesky and who, upon hearing that the ICE account was officially verified, are saying: "I will just block it."
Blocking on Bluesky is NOT PRIVATE: it's very easy to see who is blocking any account by visiting sites that list that information.
I took a screenshot from https://clearsky.app, listing all the accounts that are blocking ICE (I pixelated avatars and usernames for privacy purposes).
The safest bet is to mute (that info is private)
@_elena there are some moderation lists for far right accounts that contain them by now, like https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jagldyome3h27twtp46nxen7/lists/3kkqze5ftwk2h
subscribing to a list like that can block all its users, giving some cover as to why a user has that ICE account blocked
but yeah, bluesky leadership is not doing great at basic social decency
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An important PSA for people who are active on #Bluesky and who, upon hearing that the ICE account was officially verified, are saying: "I will just block it."
Blocking on Bluesky is NOT PRIVATE: it's very easy to see who is blocking any account by visiting sites that list that information.
I took a screenshot from https://clearsky.app, listing all the accounts that are blocking ICE (I pixelated avatars and usernames for privacy purposes).
The safest bet is to mute (that info is private)
@_elena gross. fuck bsky
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An important PSA for people who are active on #Bluesky and who, upon hearing that the ICE account was officially verified, are saying: "I will just block it."
Blocking on Bluesky is NOT PRIVATE: it's very easy to see who is blocking any account by visiting sites that list that information.
I took a screenshot from https://clearsky.app, listing all the accounts that are blocking ICE (I pixelated avatars and usernames for privacy purposes).
The safest bet is to mute (that info is private)
I am fully aware of the block vs. mute functionality, and I have blocked them not just for my own convenience reading, but to raise a significant barrier to harassment and protect the people with whom I speak also.
In fact, I subscribe to eva.computer's blocklist for all federal accounts (other than NOAA, NWS, CPSC, and the Federal Reserve) along with thousands of other people, which handled it automatically.
Blocking protects your friends, not just your eyes.
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I would also like to note that ICE is not a normal government agency. In my opinion, a normal government agency should be active on social media, at least if its goal is to be a relevant network. However, there are plenty of cases where state police have arrested ICE "officers" for acting without legal basis in their states. It is therefore not a normal agency, but an organization that acts unlawfully and is only protected by state authority, bypassing the American legal system.
