Yoel Roth

@yoyoel.com at TrustCon making the key point that big platforms can weather storms and absorb blows (litigation, regulatory churn) that kill their smaller rivals.

The legal threat may look the same to an array of platforms, but the real question is who can survive it.

The operating mantra is, “Yes, and… you’re banned”

This is an extraordinary and courageous piece of writing that wrestles with one of the great challenges of this moment: How do you decide whether to remain a part of broken institutions to try to fix them from within?

New Paradigms in Trust and Safety: Navigating Defederation on Decentralized Social Media Platforms Defederation on decentralized social media offers new possibilities for online governance. Experts consider how it can be used responsibly, in a way that balances speech and safety.

An article by @samlai.bsky.social @yoyoel.com @noupside.bsky.social @klonick.bsky.social @mallory.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy @evan.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy and @aaron.bsky.team?!?!?!

Basically the Wu-Tang Clan of the fediverse right here...

Well played, @carnegieendowment.org

Don’t make me snitch tag the menswear guy

Absolutely not.

Seems like something we could figure out. :) Will be in touch.

I was just thinking of doing this! Good to hear it holds up.

Dare to dream

We are now changing this approach. We will end the current third party fact checking program in the United States and instead begin moving to a Community Notes program. We’ve seen this approach work on X – where they empower their community to decide when posts are potentially misleading and need more context, and people across a diverse range of perspectives decide what sort of context is helpful for other users to see. We think this could be a better way of achieving our original intention of providing people with information about what they’re seeing – and one that’s less prone to bias.

Genuinely baffled by the unempirical assertion that Community Notes “works.” Does it? How do Meta know? The best available research is pretty mixed on this point.

And as they go all-in on an unproven concept, will Meta commit to publicly releasing data so people can actually study this?

Community Notes don't work by themselves. So many things don't get labeled because people don't reach "consensus" on them, which is really what Community Notes optimize for, not factuality

What an utter failure. So disappointing

That teaching is prioritized and institutionally incentivized.

One of the things we all really need from platform T&S teams — honest, authentic, human conversations about the impossible tradeoffs involved in this work — is made effectively impossible by the deranged ways a small number of people treat platform staff when they speak publicly. Ask me how I know.

Somehow I just KNEW you would understand this

Oh no, the Signal icon very subtly changed colors and now it’s setting off my “what is weird right now” alarms every time I unlock my phone

How the email found me

How the email found me

Protocols, Not Platforms: The Promise and Peril of Federated Social Media Networks – Informed 2024 In recent years, federated social media networks have begun to offer an alternative to the platforms that have grown over the last two decades. Three leaders in…

For recent migrants from other corners of the internet who might be wondering what makes Bluesky different (and imho better), I'm resurfacing this terrific conversation from earlier this year between @bsky.app CEO @jay.bsky.team, @mmasnick.bsky.social, and @yoyoel.com. 🫶

Reminder for corporate folks: It’s oh-crap-I-haven’t-spent-my-annual-learning-stipend season — and most companies allow you to use your learning budget on newspaper/newsletter subscriptions.

Good opportunity to support (and expand your access to) independent journalism.

I do not miss the satphone at all

What a floof!!!

Two black and white corgis sitting on a white and gray rug on top of a dark brown wood floor, in front of a metal and wood bookshelf

Election Day timeline cleanse, featuring Toast and Rye

Online Safety and the “Great Decentralization” – The Perils and Promises of Federated Social Media | TechPolicy.Press If we want to empower consumers and rebuild social media, we need to develop shared trust and safety capabilities, write Samantha Lai and Yoel Roth.

Decentralized social media platforms offer the promise of alternative governance, but remain ill-equipped to address threats to online safety. How can we change that?

Here’s the latest from @yoyoel.com and I:

www.techpolicy.press/online-safet...

Online Safety and the “Great Decentralization” – The Perils and Promises of Federated Social Media | TechPolicy.Press If we want to empower consumers and rebuild social media, we need to develop shared trust and safety capabilities, write Samantha Lai and Yoel Roth.

If we want to empower consumers and rebuild social media, we need to develop shared trust and safety capabilities, write @samlai.bsky.social and @yoyoel.com.

Two Australian little penguins, a small blue-gray bird with a white belly

Look at these tiny little penguins!

Tired: No comment.

Wired: My lawyer will eat me for lunch if I comment.

Should be a really interesting discussion. I'm moderating, but will have representatives from Bluesky, Threads & ActivityPub talking about decentralized moderation...

Thanks! @samlai.bsky.social is the brains of the operation. :)

Yeah — in my experience, past a certain platform size, spam reports only really matter if they’re being used to create heuristics (or train models, I guess) to deal with large networks. You can’t piecemeal content-moderate your way out of spam at massive scale.

This is going to be a really great @knightcolumbia.org symposium--about the TikTok ban, foreign disinfo, surveillance at the border, selective deportation, and the exchange of ideas across borders--check out the amazing list of contributors. knightcolumbia.org/events/regar...