Perhaps at some point what is needed is some sort of Fediverse Alliance that operates under established usage/ethical guidelines.
To join the Alliance, an instance must sign some sort of Terms/Charter/Constitution that is written (and owned w/ potential for future amendment) by said alliance. It would contain all of the data/usage rules and operational ethics that must be adhered to in order to be a member of the Alliance (and therefore access/be joined to that group of allied Fediverse instances via federation).
If such an Alliance were successfully formed (especially if top-instances banded together) it becomes a very powerful mechanism to filter out the bad and protect the users. (Example: perhaps one charter rule is no for-profits or corporate instances?)
If an instance violates the charter they would face defederation from the Alliance—perhaps by vote? ( ie group level defederation). At this point the offending instance(s) could of course create their own Alliance. However the benefits of being in the “Primary Alliance” are lost (or gained!).
Just thinking out loud.
Edit: Alliance self-governance would need to be thought of very very carefully in order to protect against corruption and hostile acts….
Perhaps at some point what is needed is some sort of Fediverse Alliance that operates under established usage/ethical guidelines.
To join the Alliance, an instance must sign some sort of Terms/Charter/Constitution that is written (and owned w/ potential for future amendment) by said alliance. It would contain all of the data/usage rules and operational ethics that must be adhered to in order to be a member of the Alliance (and therefore access/be joined to that group of allied Fediverse instances via federation).
If such an Alliance were successfully formed (especially if top-instances banded together) it becomes a very powerful mechanism to filter out the bad and protect the users. (Example: perhaps one charter rule is no for-profits or corporate instances?)
If an instance violates the charter they would face defederation from the Alliance—perhaps by vote? ( ie group level defederation). At this point the offending instance(s) could of course create their own Alliance. However the benefits of being in the “Primary Alliance” are lost (or gained!).
Just thinking out loud.
Edit: Alliance self-governance would need to be thought of very very carefully in order to protect against corruption and hostile acts….