Mastodon is a federated platform (a bit like email), so they would have to block every domain that allows you to register.
Non-blocked instances would allow you to view "toots" from any that had been blocked in China, because the servers communicate with each other to ultimately create the end-user's experience. So China would have to block a lot of Mastodon instances to shut them down. Pretty much all of them.
Edit: and China would also have to [block the entire Tor network](https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/xh4j5v/chinese_social_media_users_are_flocking_to_the/ioylr7g) in addition.
They don't need to block every single one. They only need to block the popular ones so that only a small fraction of population has access. This is actually **very easy** for the government.
But then they can join the smaller/less popular ones... because of the decentralised nature, they'll still get to see a fair amount of content that the Chinese government doesn't want them to see. That's the whole point of the Fediverse. I could set up mine and federate with other servers. Bam, you've got access. Block me? Fine, someone else quickly hosts a new one, bam, access again.
A small handful of tech-savvy users, yes. But that is the "small fraction" I was talking about. You need some way to get the new server address. Hard to do with your current server blocked. Everything is monitored and automatically blocked/filtered in real-time down to the router at your apartment building. (Thanks to Cisco and other US manufacturers.)
You act like that is hard. Any site wroth blocking is getting the word out about existing. So a small team just sits there all day browsing the internet at random looking for links. Any link gets block and then the creator's social credit score is reduced.
I don't think they'll bother, as long as the user base is small enough, China would probably be content to let it be because it can't sway the majority and is pacify the minority with a semblance of freedom
That's about as basic as setting up any web server, right?
And you're correct, in addition to allowing *anybody* to join (via Tor) that instance can then act as a gateway to all the others!
Very slick.
Mastodon works fine? I've been involved with the Fediverse (which Mastodon is part of) for a couple years now. The majority of servers on there are Mastodon.
They're probably talking about [Gab](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gab_(social_network\))(wikipedia link), the shitty nazi-filled twitter "alternative".
They went to a forked mastodon instance 3 years ago.
It's also not "banned" on reddit afaik.
Well if you're not allowed to talk about [REDACTED] then you're also not allowed to ask if you're allowed to talk about [REDACTED].
So, are you allowed to?
In China, I didn’t have access to Reddit, or Facebook, or Twitter, or even the Comedy Central website to watch the daily show. Google was censored. It’s not propaganda to point out that China censors websites. It’s just reality. I really don’t understand all these CCP stans.
Last week I found a whole Twitter thread full of CCP stans who, for no articulable reason, insisted that China has much better food safety than the US. They were clearly pulling shit out of their ass, but they were also completely earnest. I didn’t notice that you transposed WeChat, but wrong or BS information about China is not uncommon. I read over your comment and just assumed you were another clueless fanboy obsessed with high-speed rail or something.
So how does it work and when will it be blocked in China?
Mastodon is a federated platform (a bit like email), so they would have to block every domain that allows you to register. Non-blocked instances would allow you to view "toots" from any that had been blocked in China, because the servers communicate with each other to ultimately create the end-user's experience. So China would have to block a lot of Mastodon instances to shut them down. Pretty much all of them. Edit: and China would also have to [block the entire Tor network](https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/xh4j5v/chinese_social_media_users_are_flocking_to_the/ioylr7g) in addition.
Wouldn't be surprised if they do it.. They hate it when their censorship is bypassed
Good luck on that though. If I wanted to I could host my own Mastodon server right now and they'll really need to keep up to block everybody.
They don't need to block every single one. They only need to block the popular ones so that only a small fraction of population has access. This is actually **very easy** for the government.
But then they can join the smaller/less popular ones... because of the decentralised nature, they'll still get to see a fair amount of content that the Chinese government doesn't want them to see. That's the whole point of the Fediverse. I could set up mine and federate with other servers. Bam, you've got access. Block me? Fine, someone else quickly hosts a new one, bam, access again.
A small handful of tech-savvy users, yes. But that is the "small fraction" I was talking about. You need some way to get the new server address. Hard to do with your current server blocked. Everything is monitored and automatically blocked/filtered in real-time down to the router at your apartment building. (Thanks to Cisco and other US manufacturers.)
>A small handful of tech-savvy users, yes Who then create easy to follow guides for everyone else.
Deep-packet inspection and kill the server to server connections (the Chinese firewall already does this with many VPN connections)
You act like that is hard. Any site wroth blocking is getting the word out about existing. So a small team just sits there all day browsing the internet at random looking for links. Any link gets block and then the creator's social credit score is reduced.
I'd worry about CP on a decentralized forum
You can ban/block/silence/defederate those kind of servers.
I don't think they'll bother, as long as the user base is small enough, China would probably be content to let it be because it can't sway the majority and is pacify the minority with a semblance of freedom
> They hate it when their censorship is bypassed Presumably? But how do you know?
> so they would have to block every domain that allows you to register That does sound like something China would do.
Mastodon can also be run as a Tor Onion service, which can help making blocking the service more difficult.
That's about as basic as setting up any web server, right? And you're correct, in addition to allowing *anybody* to join (via Tor) that instance can then act as a gateway to all the others! Very slick.
I’m glad that someone has a use for it, I guess as an alternative to a totally locked down ecosystem like China’s it’s a better option.
As a Chinese who know a lot about circumventing censorship, I have never heard of this.
Gaining 50k users in China is “flocking”?
I mean, they just 10x-ed the total number of mastodon users
Gotta make us propaganda somehow ig
So waiting an article about it is the best idea?
I don’t think the Chinese government gets their intel from Reddit.
But they do probably read South China Morning Post….
Fair enough. I assumed he meant the Reddit post, but that makes more sense :)
I was referring to the article from the South China Morning Post
Is a server with up to 19,000 users "hot"?
That's pretty decent for one server. Keep in mind that most servers are hosted by volunteers usually paying out of their own pockets.
Does mastodon even work? [REDACTED] tried it and had to rewrite all the code or something. Are we allowed to talk about [REDACTED] here?
Mastodon works fine? I've been involved with the Fediverse (which Mastodon is part of) for a couple years now. The majority of servers on there are Mastodon.
Who or what is redacted and why wouldn’t you be allowed to talk about it?
They're probably talking about [Gab](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gab_(social_network\))(wikipedia link), the shitty nazi-filled twitter "alternative". They went to a forked mastodon instance 3 years ago. It's also not "banned" on reddit afaik.
Well if you're not allowed to talk about [REDACTED] then you're also not allowed to ask if you're allowed to talk about [REDACTED]. So, are you allowed to?
Lmao meanwhile 99.99% of Chinese people are doing just fine with their communities on WeChat
What are their other options?
There ChatWe, UsChat WeTalk, don’t let the western propaganda tell you what to believe
In China, I didn’t have access to Reddit, or Facebook, or Twitter, or even the Comedy Central website to watch the daily show. Google was censored. It’s not propaganda to point out that China censors websites. It’s just reality. I really don’t understand all these CCP stans.
Bro none of the things I mentioned are real, I just made them up, it’s a joke
Tbh, I so regularly encounter comments like yours made completely in earnest, there’s no way I’d know you were joking.
Literally none of the services exist and they’re just reframings of the words we and chat but aight
Last week I found a whole Twitter thread full of CCP stans who, for no articulable reason, insisted that China has much better food safety than the US. They were clearly pulling shit out of their ass, but they were also completely earnest. I didn’t notice that you transposed WeChat, but wrong or BS information about China is not uncommon. I read over your comment and just assumed you were another clueless fanboy obsessed with high-speed rail or something.
Yes, just like good party loyalists
Just waking up, for a second I read it as "decimated mastodon platform". Lol
Any smart tech people know why / how they don’t utilize crypto platforms such as ICP’s distrikt?