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If you are cis ("not transgender") I need to explain this to you. Bluesky today posted this vague thread, announcing-without-spelling-out that they're allowing a writer, net troll and anti-trans activist named Jesse Singal to stay on the platform, despite every trans user saying it makes us unsafe.

But you can have private profiles, or public ones blocking non logged user visualization (enforcement of blocking rules), moderation lists, simple mutes, and simple blocks. Isn't it enough? (Don't even know who the cited person in question is, this is a genuine curiosity)

Private profiles aren't a thing on here, and the person cited is specifically posting screenshots of users who *have* blocked him to incite his thousands of followers to dogpile It is not enough

I haven't seen this regarding private profiles because here I've never needed it. But one thing you can always do is to block logged out visibility and always block profiles using moderation lists. It helps. In this case, private profiles are really missing...

It’s kind of the difference between being able to lock your house and living in a place where stabbings don’t happen. You can isolate yourself to stay safe-ish but ultimately if it’s dangerous out there’s only so much you can limit your exposure to it.

Yeah, but to add to your point: the military dictatorship here in Brazil citizen to citizen violence was pretty low also. This had a cost. That is my point.

So it's true that Bluesky has better personal safety tools than Twitter (although you *can't* actually have private profiles on bluesky… if I'm not mistaken you have a private profile so just to warn you, it is not doing quite what you probably think it is)

But in the end it just can't be enough to protect you if a harassment culture develops for the site at large. You can't solve a social/cultural problem with technical solutions. And if you have a determined adversary willing to do things like make dupe accounts, they can overcome your tools.

This misunderstands the issue, and is a fundamental error in moderation philosophy. The problem isn't any specific rule violation—Singal is skilled in "I'm-not-touching-you" harassment and will follow rules if you write them. The problem is the overall effect on the site Singal's presence will have.

But also this is a very blatant rules violation

On my way to report.

No, it doesn’t. Dude is violating the spirit of the rules. Not the rules as written. There is no “rules as written” he won’t follow. He’ll follow whatever rules you have. But it won’t keep him from violating the spirit of the rules. He should be banned. Period.

Yes. (PS, because Internet tone is confusing sometimes, I want to be *totally* clear— my post was saying *Bluesky's* stance misunderstands the issue, and cosigning your point.)

You have to understand the context. The context is that there is an organized, anonymous group, centered around a site named "Kiwifarms", that has as a goal driving trans people to suicide. Singal is *currently* describing himself as working with this group as part of his operations on the site.

Sorry for the random reply, but I'm trying to remember: doesn't the protocol or at least Blue sky allow you to view posts through the filter of different moderation services? Which is why there are more reporting options than just the bsky safety team url.

I need a bit more explanation. I'm reading the screenshot and I cannot figure out how it applies to the situation. Like, Is it true that Singal post have had technical issues? The explanation doesn't make technical sense... Is that a lie to justify painting target on an innocent victim?

I was iffy on this -I think Signal is loathsome but at the same time I really hate "cancellation" and want people who I find loathsome here as long as they abide by the rules - until I found out kiwifarms are involved. Terrorist organization, they act in bad faith every time and only want to kill.

Ok, I hadn't got to this point yet. But is there any other concrete evidence to tie this person to this kind of group and actually ban them? (Never heard of this term regarding pro harm groups)

Singal himself, as a writer, has been waging an escalating war on trans existence, launching from a 2018 Atlantic cover story that outed and misgendered its cover subject. He specializes in swaying "liberals" and centrists, targeting them with the wedge strategy of "well I support trans people BUT—"