what is binding arbitration and why is that so bad?
Good night, Nostr. I hope you’re having a great weekend.
Here’s an interesting discussion about binding arbitration and the degree of freedom we enjoy here on Nostr compared to other social media networks:
@mastodonmigration@mastodon.online 🔗 https://mastodon.online/users/mastodonmigration/statuses/115040517122921946
- Bluesky now has a binding arbitration clause as part of their ToS. Users hate it. There’s nothing they can do about it. There was massive user backlash. Complaining won’t solve the problem. Bluesky belongs to a company. Protecting investors comes first. Users are the product.
- Mastodon attempted to do something similar. Got a ton of backlash from users and paused the initiative. Unlike Bluesky, Fedi users are way more likely to move to alternative tech (be it based on ActivityPub or not)
- Nostr: I can’t think of anyone even trying to do this. I mean, who are you going to sue to begin with?
TL;DR: Use a social media network where you aren’t even sure who you could sue or persecute if you disagreed with something. Use a social media platform you can build yourself. Use social media where you own the content. Make sure you (not anybody else) decide what to boost and who to mute.
#SocialMedia #FreedomOfExpression #Nostr #GrowNostr #Bluesky #Mastodon #GoodLuckWithYourArbitrationClause
Discussion
This is lawyer-speak for something like:
"In order to use my cool, cool social media network, by accepting my Terms of Service (and yes, you do have to accept in order to use it), you agree not to sue me. Instead, we’ll settle our differences through a totally neutral third party, which is definitely not my buddy Joel’s company that I’m paying for.
So, if I ban you, make your content disappear, cut you off from your friends, leak your credentials, dox you and your family, etc., my buddy Joel (the neutral third party) won’t totally decide in my favour and make everything go away. Oh, and once we take the arbitration route that I’m forcing you to agree to, everything is considered confidential.
Good deal, right?"
Here’s a more detailed explanation from Pluralistic. He’s way, way more bullish on Bluesky’s pseudo-decentralisation than he should be, and even he is calling Bluesky out:
