The federated future of social media
Social media today is dominated by a few central corporations. New technologies like ActivityPub allow for a more “federated” approach. Web3 and the metaverse are fast ushering social media into a new frontier. New platforms like Mastodon, Lens Protocol, and Bluesky are progressively featuring more and more in the virtual space previously occupied by a handful of big technology firms, and the news is that these new actors are granting enormous power & control to users.
By contrast to the traditional model of closed or self-contained social media platforms, federated social networks are interoperable spaces. Posts can travel across different domains and platforms. A user account on one service can seamlessly follow accounts on another service.
Right now, the most popular federated network is built on open standards, i.e. anyone can run a server on the service with its own rules and moderation. Servers can choose to federate with others across the network.
This means no central authority controls the entire conversation. Power and ownership are distributed: the model focuses on user control, privacy, and community-building.
As more platforms adopt protocols like ActivityPub, social media will become a more open and connected place, potentially giving all members an equal power share.
Legal Implications of Decentralized Social Media:
On Content Moderation and Legal Liability
On traditional sites like Facebook and Twitter, the law shields companies from liability for user-generated content. But decentralized networks have no central authority to moderate content or remove accounts.
This lack of moderation is a feature, rather than a bug, for some users who value privacy and free speech. But questions quickly arise as to the handling of bullying, hate speech, misinformation, disinformation, and illegal content.
While the technology and the regulatory laws evolve, open questions remain about how decentralized networks can balance user autonomy with safety and accountability.
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