Decentered S1E5: Building Trust & Safety, with Jaz Michael-King
Feb 29, 2024
auto_awesome
In this podcast, Jaz Michael-King discusses building trust and safety in the Wild West of social on the Fediverse. Topics include tools for moderators, legal liabilities, navigating grants, child safety, and government engagement. Emphasis on community collaboration and resource sharing for positive change.
Establishing trust and safety in the Fediverse through IFTAS initiatives.
Community governance and active moderation key in fostering safety and social norms.
Government presence on the Fediverse ensures direct messaging control and access to vital information.
Deep dives
Jazz's Introduction to the Fediverse and IFTAS
Jazz Michael King shares his journey to the Fediverse in 2017, expressing his discontent with mainstream social media platforms and his motivation to create a bilingual social media platform, toot.wales, fostering Welsh language usage. His experience led him to establish IFTAS, a trust and safety organization tailored for the Fediverse, aiming to enhance safety and provide admin tools.
Policies and Community Building in the Fediverse
Jazz describes his community governance approach, emphasizing community self-governance and active moderation. He highlights the importance of policy creation, moderation team diversity, and fostering social norms within the community. Jazz's involvement in various moderation groups and experiences shaped IFTAS's mission to support trust and safety in federated networks.
The Initiatives of IFTAS for Trust and Safety
IFTAS addresses key trust and safety challenges in the Fediverse through initiatives like CSAM detection, a community portal for networking and resources, and a moderator advisory council with stipend support. FEDI Check, a denialist management app, and guidance on legal compliance enhance safety measures. Additionally, initiatives such as the online safety bill compliance support and personal digital safety services aim to provide comprehensive safety resources for Fediverse users.
Challenges Faced by Community Managers
Community managers, particularly unpaid volunteers, face challenges in managing online spaces, especially when dealing with unexpected issues like abusive content. The task of ensuring online safety for large communities can be overwhelming, leading to discussions around defederation and the need for proper tools and support to handle such situations. Efforts are underway to implement media detection tools, establish protocols for handling illegal content, and provide funding support to sustain community safety initiatives.
Government Adoption of ActivityPub for Citizen Messaging
Governments are increasingly setting up their own services on the Fediverse using ActivityPub to directly communicate with citizens. This shift aims to ensure that essential messaging, such as emergency alerts and public health information, reaches the public without being subject to limitations or control by commercial social media platforms. The move towards governments running their own social media services is driven by the desire to have direct control over messaging and ensure access to vital information without external restrictions.
The Fediverse has been the Wild West of social since the beginning. Jaz-Michael King hopes to bring tools and resources to protect people through IFTAS.
Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts
Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.
