Darth Ro, Overlord of the Fedi<p>One of the cooler stories about <a href="https://h-i.social/tags/TheBadSpace" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TheBadSpace</span></a> was right after I was recovering from a massive DDoS attack and someone reached out to say how much they didn’t like the project and I shouldn’t bring it back. </p><p>I asked them why they felt like that and they repeated some lie that was floating around at the time, I think the one about it being my private block list. </p><p>I said they should actually read the about section and look at the site. If you don’t like it, fine, but leave me alone because there’s no reason to go further. </p><p>To their credit, they did let it go. </p><p>A couple of weeks later they came back and apologized and said they actually looked at some sites listed and was horrified by the streams of hateful repugnant commentary they contained. They said they didn’t realize how bad it was because they never looked. Once they did, they understood why I am so adamant about not giving bigots space, but it can get awful pretty quickly. </p><p>I was still salty about all the harassment and lies going around at that time, but that’s one story I remember that let me know people appreciate the work once they actually look and what is being tracked. </p><p>I’m never going to forget that.</p>
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#thebadspace
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The truth is I document everything. I know where harm is coming from because I’ve been subjected to it for a long time. I didn’t have #TheBadSpace back in my Play Vicious days, so the stream of harassment was constant.
I let a few go yesterday to show how people that hate me don’t care about being reasonable or fair. I detail the abuse they say doesn’t happen, and they just make up another lie to avoid that truth.
But that’s why certain communities hate me and by extension, TBS.
They know I’m right and consequences are coming, so they are doing everything they can to disparage me and make me quit.
But I’ve been dealing with bigotry and hate for a long time before I even came to the fedi. I’ve gotten into fist fights with white nationalists and been attacked with broken beer bottles. Fedi bigots do not scare me.
They are just terrified of me because I’m building tools so people can see what they are.
And they know their time is running out.
Replied in thread
@ErickaSimone I’ve had many conversations with people who are perplexed about the level of hostility people who don’t one me show me on here.
But I’m an existential threat to people who saw the fedi as a place where they could behave like bigoted assholes with no consequences because they got kicked off of other platforms.
And there is real darkness in the fedi that #TheBadSpace is revealing.
And we know what happens when bigots get exposed with the truth.
Oh, you mean the 'small furry instance' that actually came at me first that I responded to and their bigot friends got mad because I defended myself?
Yup, I got receipts for that too. I have reciepts for everything.
And yes, they are listed on #TheBadSpace
Ha, literally everything this person says is a lie.
They are just obsessed with me and can't let it go.
The last thing I'll say is always check your sources.
Most of the people that hold a grudge against me specifically have been identified by #TheBadSpace.
My personal blocklist is not a part of the the tool, but I do stand by the decisions the communities make.
Their relentless antagonization of me just proves the community is right about their spaces being sources of harm.
That's why I built TBS to identify these places so we won't spend so much time playing wack-a-bigot.
And the constant rage and aggression we are seeing from hateful people means it's working.
If anyone has any good faith questions, hit me up. My projects have always been fully transparent and out in the open. And I don't mind constructive criticism and ideas.
tweaking.thebad.spaceThis is The Bad Space
Continued thread
Further evidence of Aria's hateful behavior towards Black folks is its constant focus on my associations and money.
I am very particular about who I work with in the fedi because 1. tokenization is a thing here and 2. a lot of self-professed 'progressives' are not and hold many anti-Black views. So I keep to myself and just work.
My association with Nivenly is a topic of much discussion in bigoted circles for some reason. My only connection with them is a member of their board reaching to me to author a high level spec concerning my moderation ideas and how to integrate better blocklist management into fediverse applications. In the doc, I used #TheBadSpace as an example, but it was completely optional. They contracted me to create the doc, I made it and delivered. A very common freelancer project for someone of my skills and background. That's the extent of my relationship with them.
I have no relationship with IFTAS as I wasn't fully convinced about their intentions, due to their lack of queer Black voices in their organization.
The notion that I am financed by either of them or they funded any of my projects is simply not true. It is a bald faced lie. Both of my projects have been funded completely donations from kind people of all backgrounds and experiences. I am fortunate in that regard.
Aria would know that if it simply asked, but as most bigots do, because they follow a pattern, only look for information that confirms their bias, and not the actual story.
Continued thread
Ok, so I see why Aria has such a beef with me and made a hit piece bringing me up as a hateful person.
It's instance was moderated by a few queer communities via #TheBadSpace because of its constant hateful behavior. And remember this is not my list. Other queer communities have clocked its behavior.
But it's funny how it goes after me, but have nothing to say about the spaces that moderated it's instance, who are mostly white.
See how that works?
MastodonAria Salvatrice (@ariasalvatrice@mastodon.social)Attached: 2 images
The creator of the anti-transgender blocklist spoke of me, defending myself as a survivor of rape, in those terms. Me, i don't just say I have receipts of his horrific behavior, I provide them, they are here: https://aria.dog/barks/ethics-in-transgenderism/#women-who-survived-rape-good-for-menspatreons
If he has any guts, he should comment on the video whre I criticize his narcissist abuse targeting trans women, with abundant receipts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy5O2LjeuDY
At some point, we gotta talk about how many of these racists that target me and specifically talking about my age are doing so in an effort to groom kids and young people.
That’s not a casual point they are making. A big part of my work is recognizing the methodology of how bigots work. And many of them intentionally target young people who are still figuring out their identity.
When they use my age as a detriment to me as a person, they are engaging in a very common tactic older people use to seduce children i.e. ‘this old Black guy can’t possibly understand you like I can.’
One of the reasons #TheBadSpace is so hated in certain circles is because it is making it harder for old bigots to prey on the young.
And I think a lot of people don’t realize how often this happens in the fedi.
It’s an ugly truth about decentralized social media. It’s a hunting ground for a lot of pedophiles and groomers.
So pay attention when you see people talking about my age as an insult.
They are telling you what they are.
Ro is taking the stance that these screenshots I took of Kaliya's Twitter account are fake.
This sort of disgusting transphobia is why it's important for instances who care about queer safety to consider a #fediblock for all #thebadspace contributor instances.
As always, I want to point out I don’t know who this is and have never spoken to this person.
This is yet another example of how white queers specifically target Black folks unprovoked while trying to claim to be the victim by leaving out key elements of the narrative that don’t fit their obvious racism and hate.
They always lie about several points.
I never instigate negative exchanges. I respond to harassment.
#TheBadSpace targets bad actors, not identities. If you are on there, that mean you have a history of abusive behavior with other queer communities, not me. My personal blocklist is not part of the dataset. It’s a community tool, not a personal one.
I’ve never taken a dollar from any organization for any of my projects. Places have asked me to consult, but LOL, I have not made over 100k from seedy organizations donating to me. That is a flat out lie.
This video illustrates another brazen racist attempt to protect bigots and further drive Black and Brown folks away from the fedi. They hide behind their queerness, but they erase the contributions of the queer community to quality safety and moderation because they care more about making a digital white ethnostate, not a safer place.
So let’s be very clear about the purpose of this video: to forment more hate to protect hateful people and make the fedi toxic for every that isn’t a bigot.
It’s also funny how a common thread amongst bigots that don’t like #TheBadSpace is that I’m rich and being financed by some organization that I don’t work with.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have some funding from dedicated people, but I’m still figuring out how to pay my rent month to month just like everyone else lol!
These people have really created a version of me that only exists in their minds, which is the only place I can live rent free apparently.
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Of course, this is not to say #TheBadSpace is perfect. I can go down a list of things that need to be improved and fixed.
But I would say no fedi dev has been as transparent and open about the project as I have. I believe good moderation cannot happen in a vacuum or be based on one’s person’s perspective. That’s why TBS has been an open book from the start. That’s why it’s always been a collaborative effort.
Pay attention to how people who have so much to say never reference the about page of the project, which gives details on how it all works. Notice how they never quote any of the many times I talk about the projects specifics and choose to reference people who are listed from instances known to house bad actors. Last but not least, see how most ‘criticism’ quotes my response to harassers, but always seems to ignore or leave out the action that instigated that response.
It is very clear to see a lot of negative comments have a pattern of bias that straight up ignores or denies the abuse that happens in the fedi to justify the lies and half truths they want to spread about the project.
Many people don’t like it because it’s a threat to their ability to harass and abuse people without consequence. And in the fedi, that’s a greater sin than the actual abuse and harassment itself.
But it does not change the fact the fedi has a racism problem the project seeks to address directly.
Anyone that denies this context just shouldn’t be paid attention to.
Continued thread
The underlying assumption of 99% of the bile people have to say about #TheBadSpace is that queer people, especially white queers, cannot be anti-Black bigots that engage in the same behaviors as white nationalists and racists.
You can ask any Black or Brown person on the fedi (well, that hasn’t been tokenized) and know this is simply false. It’s just not true.
I will not have a conversation that denies this obvious reality. That’s a nonstarter for me.
Yes, I’m open to talking about governance models and how trust and accountability can improve, but I will not do so from the standpoint of denialism.
The fedi has been particularly ugly to Black and Brown folks, so there is a massive need for tooling that protects those communities and can be improved as we learn more about what they need to keep them safe.
If we can agree on that, cool, you can fuss at me all day about what you don’t like and what needs to improve about the project.
But if we can’t agree on that basic reality, I just don’t care what you have to say.