MoodleNet and ‘free speech’
Doug Belshaw,
MoodleNet,
Sept 12, 2019
This post addresses the problem of hate speech in the fediverse. Because the software is open source, and because each instance is independently managed, there's always the possibility that racists and fascists will create their own instance and try to spread their content to every other node in the network. This has already happened in the Mastodon network, with the creation of an instance called 'Gab', and the response by most administrators has been to block it and for Mastodon central to refuse to list it. Which I feel is appropriate. MoodleNet is adopting a similar stance, and this post outlines a User Agreement and a Covenant for Instance Administrators that would apply to such instances. Fair enough, but the problem with such rule-based approaches is that the people who would follow them don't need them, and the people they should apply to use them as a minimum standard and a way to find loopholes. At a certain point, we must rely on our judgement, not a rulebook, and we can recognize hate for what it is, and take the appropriate action.
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