Submitted by edmund_the_destroyer in freeAsInFreedom (edited )

In this lobby discussion ( https://raddle.me/f/lobby/31758/anarchist-designed-communication-platform ) it links to a project by anarchists to set up a communication platform.

I'm not sure if I should be writing this post here or in the /f/Anarchism forum, but as far as I know most of the options they might want already exist.

  • First, use the Tor Project ( https://www.torproject.org/ ) to make your internet traffic more difficult to trace. An attacker or eavesdropper can tap your connection at the telephone pole and watch how much data you send and receive but not the content or the recipient.

  • Second, running your own email server is somewhat complex but manageable with patience and research https://mailinabox.email/ If your recipients are using a centralized proprietary email server then it won't work, because Google, Microsoft, Comcast, Apple, or whoever can read everything. But if I host mine and you host yours, our servers can connect directly through TOR with TLS encryption and only we can read the content. (There is also encrypted email through PGP software, but it's awkward to use.)

  • Third, there are alternative free software social networks like Diaspora ( https://diasporafoundation.org/ ), Friendica ( https://friendi.ca/ ), GNU Social ( https://gnu.io/), Mastodon ( https://mastodon.social/about )

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edmund_the_destroyer OP wrote

The massive downside is that the average person might not have the technical skills to set any of these up. The other downside is that there are hosting costs - you can run a cheap server out of your house, but an adequate internet connection for it may be beyond your budget or simply unavailable. Running a server elsewhere tends to be expensive if you rent your own locked rack in a colocation center or untrustworthy if you simply rent a virtual server from some proprietary provider.

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zombie_berkman wrote

isn't disporia developed by and for fash? I thought they got.butthurt about cw on mastodon and made their own because muh freeze peach. Or is that plermora?

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edmund_the_destroyer OP wrote

Diaspora is from 2010, well before Mastodon existed. So maybe some fascists (I'm guessing that's what you mean by 'fash') adopted it, but I am pretty sure they were the original developers or current owners of the project.

Free, decentralized, distributed social networks do have a massive potential for trolling and an assembly of assholes. I don't know how well any of these tools allow users to filter out content they don't want.

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F3nd0 wrote

If you meant to type “diaspora*”, then no; diaspora* has been around for over seven years, and is therefore older than Mastodon. The other one you likely thought of is called “Pleroma”, and unlike diaspora*, it is compatible with Mastodon (and GNU Social), but I don't know the history behind it.

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F3nd0 wrote

There is a project about a libre, distributed, social and communication network already, which is called Secushare. There are others, too, but Secushare appears by far the most ambitious. I don't think the people behind it are anarchists, though (if that's a criterion, for some reason).

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edmund_the_destroyer OP wrote

Thanks for the Secushare information.

The original post that got me interested in writing something was from Anarchists. But I think the value of something free software, distributed, decentralized, and private is huge regardless of one's political philosophies.

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