proposal for Mastodon.

At the moment, moderation is strictly local. And in principle that makes perfect sense. Each server has its own "rules" to be enforced locally.

But this can be problematic for small instances. Imagine an instance with just a few hundred users on it. Or even just a few dozen. There is probably just one admin. One person to look after that instance's moderation.

People have to sleep. They have lives outside running and maintaining their Mastodon server. They cannot be present to moderate their instance 24/7.

"Global" moderation is never going to work. What's acceptable on an instance that is designed to be "open" to everyone is VERY different to what can be tolerated on an instance that is designed to be a safe space for people who have endured trauma.

So this is my idea....

Implement the concept of a network of trust between servers. If server1.something and server2.somethingelse find themselves very mutually compatible their Admins could both add the other server to their "trusted" network. And then, when that's in place, there could be an option for the Admin of one server to accept individual moderators from the other server as moderators on theirs.

A few small "trusted" servers around the globe could build a small team of mutual moderators who could between them cover the moderation of the entire "circle of trust" servers 24/7.

It would be great if the technical infrastructure of the Fediverse allowed for such a modification.

Any techies like to comment?