Mastodon implemented a new feature in a way that would break (in a really jarring privacy-violating-to-some-extent way) until everyone else copied their implementation exactly.

You ever notice how Gargron refers to the fediverse as “the Mastodon network?”

He’s been doing things this way since 2017 at least. At this point, any longtime observer really has no other choice but to consider the behavior deliberate.