Because of the starting discussion here about #moderation and #BIPoC and #LGBTQIA in the fediverse, may I add my very small 2¢?
IMHO instances should be governed by the same principles any modern democracy functions.
Legislative: All users of the instance decide about its rules.
Executive: A number of moderators act on these rules, voted by the people
Judiciary: A number of judges control the moderators and are voted by the people.
Financing then also has to be done by the people.
@gurubert Apart from the issues I see according to German Law at least, I haven't seen this approach working unless there's a single controlling instance that can enforce who's in and who's out. After all, you shouldn't be allowed to force by Law to become a community member either; I don't think that's how the idea of a "community" works.
@wusel I am at birth member of a community called my state (usually) where I am usually forced to pay taxes as soon as I can afford it.
If I want to take part in an association (a german Verein) I also have to become member and pay fees. Such an association is usually democratically organized.
But maybe Internet communities need another model. How does democracy come into play here?
@gurubert Let's me tell you my view on e. g. the #Freifunk movement. There are registered associations, there are non-registered ones or people that just work together (which legally may be an partnership unter the Cocil Code (dt.: GbR ) or a non-registered association (dt.: nicht-eingetragener Verein). These work together unter the Freifunk umbrella, broadly sharing the same goals but apply different ways of working towards those locally. 1/x
@gurubert Now, to consider yourself a part of the movement, you don't have to join any of these associations at all, but just to work with
others towards the generic goals. 2+ people IIRC doing that already count as a "Community".
Those smaller Communities form the bigger, german wide, Freifunk Community. 2/x
@gurubert hey together somehow decide on things, but by having trademarked the name "Freifunk", one registered association from Berlin – that kind of invented it in the first place – in theory could excersise some power on "misbehaving" communities to at least not call themselves "Freifunk" anymore. 3/x
@gurubert The #Fediverse, AFAICS, lacks this top-level authority. Similarily to how the email system works, you "add a server" and are part of it. The powers that are in these systems somehow define standards for "good" and "bad" behavior, and ways to keep the "bad guys" from causing to much friction. 4/4
