Post #1230758
2025-11-14 01:19 UTC
Replies (22)
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@pathunstrom@ngmx.com 2025-11-14 22:12
So, unsurprisingly, the rule keeps working. Behold this person, who immediately asked for a sharp definition of fascist. This is the kind of person you're ejecting before they create problems. As close as I can tell from what little information I can glean, I don't think this person is a fascist, but he's definitely not someone I want in my spaces. This is why it works.
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@pathunstrom@ngmx.com 2026-03-25 23:34
. . . This post is 4 months old and I get a new person thinking they're the smartest special one that the rule won't apply to. This is precisely why the rule works: This person just openly announced they'll be an unlimited drain on community resources with no actual prompting from me.
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@pathunstrom@ngmx.com 2026-03-26 00:31
Just to be clear: If you show up to be an example of what I'm talking about, I will screenshot what you said, block you, and post about it. I will do this for as long as folks want to continue to step on the rake. I consider this a community service.
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@pathunstrom@ngmx.com 2026-04-17 01:44
Neurodivergence is not an excuse. This rule is quite clear, I have explained this multiple times. Enjoy your block.
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@astraluma@tacobelllabs.net 2025-11-14 01:21
@pathunstrom i bet this is shockingly effective at cutting down community problems, too.
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@AVincentInSpace@furry.engineer 2025-11-14 03:44
@pathunstrom i have been called a fascist for telling people to vote for kamala harris instead of jill stein
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@liamo@mastodon.online 2025-11-14 11:56
@pathunstrom but, but… if there are no fascists how will I know who to punch? 😉
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@koantig@mamot.fr 2025-11-14 14:18
@pathunstrom Relevant cartoon, looking at some of the replies.
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@ALWyvern@mastodon.social 2025-11-15 12:42
@pathunstrom it's super effective
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@joepie91@fedi.slightly.tech 2025-11-17 12:54
@pathunstrom A couple of years ago, I was brought in as a moderator to help de-fascist a community that had practically turned into 4chan, in one of the most fundamentally-abuse-attracting and difficult-to-moderate categories of community (privacy/security-related). The policy was set as "no fascists, no alt-right, nothing that looks like it" and people would either get banned immediately (if clearly intentionally abusive) or get a warning otherwise that they were expected to take seriously (doubling down would be grounds for a ban). Every ban was permanent but revocable if someone showed genuine reflection and commitment to do better - this sometimes took minutes, sometimes months or even longer, sometimes never. Randos complained for months. "You just call everyone a nazi", "how do you define fascist then", "you're being unreasonable", "the alt right aren't fascists", and so on, and so forth. Without exception, the ones complaining about it the most were the ones who already had a track prior record of being an asshole in different ways. A lot of the bans were the result of brigading attempts from, well, fascists who objected to being pushed out, pretending to be 'new users' and mysteriously immediately knowing about previous bans that happened before they joined. It took a while, but they eventually gave up. The result was a pleasant community to be in, unusually pleasant for a privacy/security community. I haven't been around there for quite a while now, but my understanding is that it's still a nice place to this day. "No fascists allowed" works, even under the worst conditions, and the "no, seriously, this is not up for debate, the moderator decides" is a critical component of making it work.
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@nakob@anarchism.space 2025-11-17 21:22
@pathunstrom Lucky for us, fascists REALLY love to be the victims, so they can't stop complaining about "being censored" 😁
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@zornem@chaos.social 2025-11-18 00:34
@pathunstrom I haven't seen such a sweet honeypot in a while!
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@guyjantic@infosec.exchange 2025-11-18 04:44
@pathunstrom it's a great rule. It relies on having a very accurate fascist detector. Luckily, in many situations the fascists self-identity.
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@astraluma@tacobelllabs.net 2025-11-18 18:48
@pathunstrom is it possible this is the only rule you need? I feel like it's maybe good practice to use something akin to the Contributors Covenent and make it explicit. But it can be reasonably summed up as "don't be a dick", which is a societal norm.
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@adrake@sfba.social 2025-11-18 19:36
@pathunstrom Good rule! I'm enjoying seeing all the replies to posts I can't see from accounts I've already muted for other reasons, confirming the efficacy 😁
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@VoxOfGod@beige.party 2025-11-19 23:06
@pathunstrom ⏫ my thing is, if people make it illegal to listen to music files.. with that fact as well as the we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, I would love some sort of enforceable rule that I opt out of allowing fascists to listen to me sing and if they do hear me sing it is because they are stealing the experience
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@croquette@chitter.xyz 2026-03-03 18:36
@pathunstrom NO FACISTS I DONT LIKE THEM
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@jarinks@mstdn.social 2026-03-25 22:36
@pathunstrom I honestly question every rule and not even just rules, everything
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@dragonarchitect@rubber.social 2026-03-25 23:52
@pathunstrom I feel like I should open with saying it's always funny to watch fascists faceplant themselves squarely into the "find out" after trying to fuck around... But you can employ this same sort of tactic to insta-ID someone from any group that you want to exclude from your community. Just say explicitly "No _____ Allowed" and anybody who tries to argue the point just outed themself and gets a kickban. People are way too eager to argue the point and try to make you shift the goalposts.
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@dogiedog64@app.wafrn.net 2026-04-16 18:18
@pathunstrom@ngmx.com Reminder, the ONLY good Fascist is a DEAD Fascist.
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@paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange 2026-04-16 20:01
@pathunstrom i love it. the offenders self-identify. easy.
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@sb@metroholografix.ca 2026-04-16 20:10
@pathunstrom This is great! I'm not much of a gamer nor a game dev, so I'd never heard of #OliviaHill but I dig (and live by) their rule!