Update:
The comments from this post will not be removed as to preserve the discussion around the announcement. Any continued discussions outside of this thread that violate server rules will be removed. We feel that everyone that has an opinion, and wanted to vent, has been heard.

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Original post:
Yesterday, we received information about the planned federation by Hexbear. The announcement thread can be found here: https://www.hexbear.net/post/280770. After reviewing the thread and the comments, it became evident that allowing Hexbear to federate would violate our rules.

Our code of conduct and server rules can be found here.

The announcement included several concerning statements, as highlighted below:

  • “Please try to keep the dirtbag lib-dunking to hexbear itself. Do not follow the Chapo Rules of Posting, instead try to engage utilizing informed rhetoric with sources to dismantle western propaganda. Posting the western atrocity propaganda and pig poop balls is hilarious but will pretty quickly get you banned and if enough of us do it defederated.”
  • “The West’s role in the world, through organizations such as NATO, the IMF, and the World Bank - among many others - are deeply harmful to the billions of people living both inside and outside of their imperial core.”
  • “These organizations constitute the modern imperial order, with the United States at its heart - we are not fooled by the term “rules-based international order.” It is in the Left’s interest for these organizations to be demolished. When and how this will occur, and what precisely comes after, is the cause of great debate and discussion on this site, but it is necessary for a better world.”

The rhetoric and goal of Hexbar are clear based on their announcement: to “dismantle western propaganda” and "demolish organizations such as NATO” shows that Hexbar has no intention of "respecting the rules of the community instance in which they are posting/commenting.” It’s to push their beliefs and ideology.

In addition, several comments from a Hexbear admin, demonstrate that instance rules will not be respected.

Here are some examples:

“I can assure you there will be no lemmygrad brigades, that energy would be better funneled into the current war against liberalism on the wider fediverse.”

“All loyal, honest, active and upright Communists must unite to oppose the liberal tendencies shown by certain people among us, and set them on the right path. This is one of the tasks on our ideological front.”

Overall community comments:

To clarify, for those who have inquired about why Hexbear versus Lemmygrad, it should be noted that we are currently exploring the possibility of defederating from Lemmygrad as well based on similar comments Hexbear has made.

Defederation should only be considered as a last resort. However, based on their comments and behavior, no positive outcomes can be expected.

We made the decision to preemptively defederate from Hexbear for these reasons. While we understand that not everyone may agree with our decision, we believe it is important to prioritize the best interests of our community.

    • Sentrovasi
      5•1 year ago

      instead try to engage utilizing informed rhetoric with sources to dismantle western propaganda

      I think it really depends on whether you consider this line to mean engaging in good faith discussion or sealioning with alternative facts.

      • @[email protected]
        40•1 year ago

        If they engage with sources to back things up, then that sounds like a discussion to me. I’d rather be the judge of a discussion then some moderator that doesn’t think I need to hear it.

        • Sentrovasi
          -4•1 year ago

          The concern is rarely the people who are engaging and discussing with a critical mind, but the silent majority that consume with less time for criticality. As we’ve seen on Reddit, hive opinions end up prevailing on any site that is algorithmically sorted, and if one side has the numbers and dogged persistence to filibuster harder, it doesn’t matter if there is intellectual pushback; a culture war can be won on memes alone.

          I think that’s generally the danger with allowing all “facts” in the name of critical discussion. Jokes are funny until suddenly they aren’t jokes anymore, and implications are debatable until a consensus, rather than independent analysis, declares them fact. That’s pretty much the internet.

      • ImOnADiet🇵🇸 (He/Him)
        16•1 year ago

        hexbear users from the news megathreads, who that’s most directed towards really, are normally extremely well sourced using both western and Russian propaganda