Mastodon says it doesn't 'have the means' to comply with age verification laws | TechCrunch
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Decentralized social network Mastodon says it cannot comply with age verification laws, like in Mississippi and elsewhere, and says it's up to individual server owners to decide.

The statement follows a lively back-and-forth conversation earlier this week between Mastodon founder and CEO Eugen Rochko and Bluesky board member and journalist Mike Masnick. In the conversation, published on their respective social networks, Rochko claimed, “there is nobody that can decide for the fediverse to block Mississippi.” (The Fediverse is the decentralized social network that includes Mastodon and other services, and is powered by the ActivityPub protocol.)

“And this is why real decentralization matters,” said Rochko.

  • henfredemars@infosec.pubEnglish
    7·
    12 days ago

    My main gripe is that these massive tech companies are built on the backs of FOSS while their contribution to open source is minuscule compared to profits. They ruthlessly monetize everything as you put it: the employees, the code, your data, your time, and for what? How does this actually make our lives better in a meaningful way?

    The fediverse is the next step in taking the web back so that it can start working for humans again. I hope it can stand up to big tech and the lawmakers in their pockets. We can be sure they will fight like hell when money is on the line.

    • Flagstaff@programming.devEnglish
      3·
      12 days ago

      I hope it can stand up to big tech and the lawmakers in their pockets.

      I’m feeling less hopeful, but I hope I’m wrong…