@gyptazy @Anniiii I agree that users should have the freedom to choose/block content freely; at the same time, I bear the honor/burden of keeping the BSD Cafe peaceful. I will never apply any form of censorship to others' opinions, even if they differ from my own. This place is not mine; it belongs to all the users who are part of it, and I am merely the barista.

I have received some complaints in the past about the behavior of certain users. Some were simply ridiculous (and were trashed directly, without any action taken). Others were equally ridiculous, but due to a good relationship with those involved, I shared them for a laugh before discarding them as absurd complaints. Unfortunately, some had a basis. Without making it public, I had to take action in several cases, and some people have been removed—they were here under the guise of BSD, but in reality, they used the platform to harass others. Trolls, as we know, are everywhere. I hate doing these things; they are completely against my way of thinking, but the risk was causing other instances to block ours entirely. This would have severely harmed both BSD Cafe and its users.

I've also received some spam/scams directly in private mentions, but I limited myself to ignoring/blocking the individual users. I am against over-moderation; it's very easy to become censors and remove others' freedom of speech. That is not what I want.

The addition of some (limited, curated, controlled) blocks became necessary when, following reports, I realized that some of the federations in place (mainly related to boosts or some followers, part of those instances—which then boosted these things) allowed illegal content in the EU, such as child pornography, incitement to extermination, etc., to enter our servers. Even though I reported these issues, the instances in question either do not have active moderation, or they are places where certain behaviors are condoned/encouraged.

I will not censor anyone for their opinions (I have never done it and never will), the same goes for instances. But certain illegal behaviors risk compromising the safety and existence of all of us. I am still refining the list, but it will be made public (from the BSD Cafe's "info" page) as soon as the final details are sorted out.

BSD Cafe will always remain a place for the free expression of ideas, but if those ideas involve violence against children, minorities, or anyone else, it will be appropriate to intervene (at least minimally) to ensure some peace of mind.

As always, let me know your opinions and if something should not be as you wish, please tell me. I am just the barista of this place, which, however, belongs to its users.