You need to explain why a mastodon instance in a state without those laws care what a different state does
Comment on Mississippi Age Verification Law
LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 3 weeks agoIf you run any instance that is federated and has users that could sign in from that state it makes complete sense to block their IP addresses. Why on earth would someone running a Mastodon instance take on risk unlless they were in another country where there was no risk of repercussions.
If you’re just hoping that small fish won’t get fried that’s possibly true. But admins likely won’t want to find out if they will just on principles.
Kirk@startrek.website 3 weeks ago
LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I don’t need to explain anything. If you want to host something with content that is illegal in another state and you choose to not put up any protections to block users from accessing the content in that state, you very well may be sued some day. If you block users from signing up from those states and/or block those IP addresses from accessing your site, you likely would have grounds for it to be dismissed before ever having to do anything. State lines do not protect you against lawsuits.
thenexusofprivacy@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Yeah, don’t listen to anybody who says “they can’t fine me or sue me if I’m in a different state” or “they can’t do anything about it if they win.” Of course we don’t know who they’ll target when they start enforcing the law, and it’s possible that the law will be found unconstitutional … still, they can fine you, and they can sue, so if you decide not to geoblock them yet make sure you’re thinking through the risks.
I haven’t seen anything yet on how strong a defense geoblocking Mississippi will be in practice. Bluesky obviously thinks it puts them in a stronger position than not geoblocking, but at this point we really don’t know.
Kirk@startrek.website 3 weeks ago
they literally do? what do you think state lines even do?
LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
constitution.congress.gov/…/ALDE_00013024/
If you are fined in one state they will ask your state to enforce the penalty and they are usually legally required to do so by the federal government.
The part of Mississippi saying it may have criminal punishments as well may have more leeway, as you won’t get extradited if it isn’t a felony in most states. But we don’t know what the criminal charges would be. At 10,000 per user signed up from their state though, I’d be weary.
Just be careful, I’m just saying it’s risky. I can see them ceasing your assets in another state because it follows the current laws. Otherwise if you found someone guilty in a state court you would just move to another state and be fine, which we know doesn’t work, or people like the my pillow guy would just move out of Minnesota.
usefulchickadee@norcal.social 3 weeks ago
Because extradition?
Kirk@startrek.website 3 weeks ago
lol yeah ok buddy
oliver@lemmy.pifferi.io 3 weeks ago
It‘s not only the registration, it‘s the complete usage of the service. Tricky thing.
In my eyes, this will be just the tip of the iceberg. Mississippi now, what reason comes next? DJT wanting to exclude specific groups of users? Cut off whole countries? Who knows… There will be additional reasons and if you ask me, this is just the beginning with the ugly potential to turn into censorship.
Got the point, but surely they will have more legal tools than I do with my single-user Mastodon-instance - which has registrations disabled, but doesn‘t prevent any country from reaching it. 🤷🏼♂️
LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The way I view it is that Bluesky is a new company that is growing fast, while a site like Pornhub has been around longer and I’m sure has a large legal team that monitors laws all the time. If Pornhub said it was better to cut their losses and see if waiting out and or not seeing a good legal standing to fight with these states, Bluesky likely didn’t have much of a chance.