Connect for lemmy has this on Android. Since others are saying it's on the road map for lemmy, I guess its built into the Connect app and doesn't apply when you login via pc/browser but it should help if you're on mobile, works for me.

[we are doing it for the] “integrity of information and resources connected to the Clemson network”.

They're not doing it to censor or discourage use. They're doing it because they don't want the software running on their network alongside their network resources.

You can still use tiktok, just not while connected to their network infrastructure.

✅️ is a shopping platform

✅️ has an app ecosystem with a billing api

✅️ high probability that someone who shops online has interacted with a store on the platform

✅️ multiple rounds of layoffs w/ staff stretched thin

✅️ unclear ambitions of being a megaplatform, beyond what it already is

I guess we'll never know, lol

I'd love to take credit but that was midjourney (and all the artists that feed its capabilities.)

I think my prompt was "a logo featuring a mouse holding a magnifying glass"

I've since realized that I should have said lemming instead of mouse, but a dummy like me can only do so much.

I definitely expect a drawn out game of whack a mole as lemmy devs, instance admins and key contributors start seeing stuff like this pop up, and they develop tools or tech to mitigate abuse, until another exploit is found by bad actors, rinse and repeat.

Some say it's an inherent flaw with federation/activitypub but I expect/hope it progresses the way other vulnerable tech has.

For example, in the early days of wifi it was pretty trivial to packet sniff (a practice that lets you peer into other folks network activity). Now most sites encrypt their transmitted data and while the packets could be sniffed over an unsecured network, the data within stays safe because it's encrypted (assuming most sites that deal with sensitive data now encrypt, which in my experience, they do)

Furthermore WIFI as a technology has gone through many iterations, each one bringing with it better and stronger security, to the point where average Joe can setup a secure home network by following the quick start guide included with their router, which these days is essentially plug in, power on, choose a password, and authenticate with your devices.

I expect activitypub and fedi tech to develop in the same way: releasing patches and updates and ammending the standard to combat/mitigate abuse of an open federated platform., it's gonna take time though.

Edit: typos

Fair point! I was thinking that too, but i settled on the idea that it probably would not stop the folks who would actually do this though

To illustrate op's point I'm going to spin up an instance, federate with everyone, and not tell anyone what that instance is.

Then I'm going to feed all that data into my new website, called Open Lemmy Stats, where anyone can query the user data ive accumulated. The homepage will be ripe with insights, leaderboards and all kinds of data on prolific users.

Additionally, I'll display a snapshot/profile of a random user by feeding that users data to GPT4 to make inferences about the user's political affiliations and display the results.

Worst of all, I'm not going to out my instance for everyone to know it as the one to defederate. In fact I'm spinning up a few instances that will host innocuous communities that I plan to mod and support to give my instances cover for their true purpose: redundant fediverse datastreams for my site, Open Lemmy Stats.

I'll also have a store where anyone can buy my collected fediverse data for a handsome sum.

Just kidding I'm not doing any of this. But someone absolutely will or already is.