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Crowdin Bot
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Censorship online can be carried out (to varying degrees) by actors including to
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Censorship on corporate platforms is increasingly common, as platforms like Twitter and Facebook give in to public demand, market pressures, and pressures from government agencies. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
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People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
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People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
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<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
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<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
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@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
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</div>
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### Element
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<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
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{ align=right }
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**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
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Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
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[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
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[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
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[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
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[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
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<details class="downloads" markdown>
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<summary>Downloads</summary>
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- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
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- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
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- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
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- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
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- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
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- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
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- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
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</details>
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</div>
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Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
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With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
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The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
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The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
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### Session
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<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
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+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
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- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
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- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
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These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
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These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
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A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
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A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
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Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
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The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
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The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
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You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
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## Decentralization
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Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
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A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
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A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
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## Censorship Resistance
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While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
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If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
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1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
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2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
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Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
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You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
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## Mastodon
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<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
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{ align=right }
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**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
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**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
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[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
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[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
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@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
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2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
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3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
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3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
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### Choosing an Instance
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To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
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It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
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We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
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If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
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1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
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Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
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2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
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Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
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This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
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You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
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To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
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### Recommended Privacy Settings
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@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
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- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
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In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
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In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
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- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
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@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
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When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
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- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
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- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
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- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
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- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
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- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
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- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
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If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
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## Element
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<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
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{ align=right }
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**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
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[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
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[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
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[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
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[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
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|
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<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
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|
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- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
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- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
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- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
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- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
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- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
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</details>
|
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|
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</div>
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### Choosing a Homeserver
|
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|
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To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criteria
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Censorship online can be carried out (to varying degrees) by actors including to
|
||||
|
||||
Censorship on corporate platforms is increasingly common, as platforms like Twitter and Facebook give in to public demand, market pressures, and pressures from government agencies. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criteria
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Censorship online can be carried out (to varying degrees) by actors including to
|
||||
|
||||
Censorship on corporate platforms is increasingly common, as platforms like Twitter and Facebook give in to public demand, market pressures, and pressures from government agencies. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criteria
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Censorship online can be carried out (to varying degrees) by actors including to
|
||||
|
||||
Censorship on corporate platforms is increasingly common, as platforms like Twitter and Facebook give in to public demand, market pressures, and pressures from government agencies. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criteria
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Zensur im Internet kann (in unterschiedlichem Ausmaß) von Akteuren wie totalit
|
||||
|
||||
Zensur auf unternehmerisch Plattformen ist zunehmend häufiger anzutreffen, da Plattformen wie Twitter und Facebook auf öffentlichen Druck, Marktdruck und Druck von Regierungsbehörden reagieren. Regierungsdruck kann sich in verdeckten Anfragen an Unternehmen äußern, wie zum Beispiel die Bitte des Weißen Hauses, ein provokatives YouTube-Video [zu entfernen](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html), oder offen, wie die chinesische Regierung, die Unternehmen auffordert, einem strengen Zensurregime zu folgen.
|
||||
|
||||
Personen, die sich Sorgen um Zensur machen, können Technologien wie [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) nutzen, um diese zu umgehen, und Zensur-resistente Kommunikationsplattformen wie [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element) unterstützen, die keine zentralisierte Kontrollinstanz haben, die Konten willkürlich schließen kann.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tipp</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ Diese Messenger haben keine Forward Secrecy[^1], und obwohl sie bestimmte Anford
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** ist der Flaggschiff-Client für das [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)-Protokoll, ein [offener Standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) für sichere dezentrale Echtzeitkommunikation.
|
||||
|
||||
Nachrichten und Dateien, die in privaten Räumen (für die eine Einladung erforderlich ist) geteilt werden, sind standardmäßig E2EE, ebenso wie persönliche Sprach- und Videoanrufe.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Datenschutzerklärung" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Dokumentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Quellcode" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
@@ -277,12 +239,12 @@ Session has a [white paper](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2002.04609.pdf) describing the
|
||||
|
||||
Unsere Best-Case-Kriterien stellen dar, was wir uns von einem perfekten Projekt in dieser Kategorie wünschen würden. Unsere Empfehlungen enthalten möglicherweise keine oder nicht alle dieser Merkmale, aber diejenigen, die sie enthalten, werden möglicherweise höher eingestuft als andere auf dieser Seite.
|
||||
|
||||
- Unterstützt das Forward-Secrecy[^1]
|
||||
- Supports forward secrecy[^1]
|
||||
- Unterstützt Future Secrecy (Post-Compromise-Sicherheit)[^2]
|
||||
- Hat Open-Source-Server.
|
||||
- Dezentralisiert, d.h. [Föderiert oder P2P](advanced/communication-network-types.md).
|
||||
- Verwendet standardmäßig E2EE für alle Nachrichten.
|
||||
- Unterstützt Linux, macOS, Windows, Android und iOS.
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Bei der [Forward Secrecy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_secrecy) (dt.: „vorwärts gerichteten Geheimhaltung“) werden die Schlüssel sehr häufig gewechselt, so dass, wenn der aktuelle Verschlüsselungsschlüssel kompromittiert wird, nicht auch **frühere** Nachrichten offengelegt werden.
|
||||
[^1]: [Forward secrecy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_secrecy) is where keys are rotated very frequently, so that if the current encryption key is compromised, it does not expose **past** messages as well.
|
||||
[^2]: Future Secrecy (oder Post-Compromise Security) ist eine Funktion, bei der ein Angreifer daran gehindert wird, **zukünftige** Nachrichten zu entschlüsseln, nachdem er einen privaten Schlüssel kompromittiert hat, es sei denn, er kompromittiert auch weitere Sitzungsschlüssel in der Zukunft. Dies zwingt den Angreifer dazu, die gesamte Kommunikation zwischen den Parteien abzufangen, da er den Zugang verliert, sobald ein Schlüsselaustausch stattfindet, der nicht abgefangen wird.
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Überwachungskapitalismus](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Datenschutzerklärung" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Dokumentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Quellcode" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criteria
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Censorship online can be carried out (to varying degrees) by actors including to
|
||||
|
||||
Censorship on corporate platforms is increasingly common, as platforms like Twitter and Facebook give in to public demand, market pressures, and pressures from government agencies. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Συμβουλή</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criteria
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Censorship online can be carried out (to varying degrees) by actors including to
|
||||
|
||||
Censorship on corporate platforms is increasingly common, as platforms like Twitter and Facebook give in to public demand, market pressures, and pressures from government agencies. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criteria
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ La censura en las plataformas corporativas es cada vez más común, ya que plata
|
||||
|
||||
La censura en las plataformas corporativas es cada vez más común, ya que plataformas como Twitter y Facebook ceden a la demanda del público, a las presiones del mercado y a las de los organismos gubernamentales. Las presiones gubernamentales pueden ser peticiones encubiertas a las empresas, como la de la Casa Blanca [solicitando la retirada](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) de un vídeo provocativo de YouTube, o abiertamente, como la del gobierno chino exigiendo a las empresas que se adhieran a un estricto régimen de censura.
|
||||
|
||||
Las personas preocupadas por la amenaza de la censura pueden utilizar tecnologías como [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) para eludirla, y apoyar plataformas de comunicación resistentes a la censura como [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), que no tiene una autoridad de cuentas centralizada que pueda cerrar cuentas arbitrariamente.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Consejo</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ Estos mensajeros no tienen secreto hacia adelante[^1], y aunque satisfacen ciert
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** es el cliente insignia del protocolo [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im), un [estándar abierto](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) para la comunicación segura descentralizada en tiempo real.
|
||||
|
||||
Los mensajes y archivos compartidos en salas privadas (aquellas que requieren invitación) son por defecto E2EE, al igual que las llamadas de voz y vídeo uno a uno.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Página Principal](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Política de Privacidad" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentación" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Código Fuente" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads "Descargas"</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Las fotos de perfil, las reacciones y los apodos no están cifrados.
|
||||
|
||||
Con la integración de [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) en la aplicación web de Element, las aplicaciones de escritorio y sus [aplicaciones móviles reescritas](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), las llamadas VoIP y las videollamadas en grupo son E2EE por defecto.
|
||||
|
||||
El propio protocolo Matrix [soporta teóricamente el secreto hacia adelante](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], sin embargo [no está soportado actualmente en Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) debido a que rompe algunos aspectos de la experiencia del usuario como las copias de seguridad de claves y el historial de mensajes compartidos.
|
||||
|
||||
El protocolo fue [auditado](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) independientemente en 2016. La especificación del protocolo Matrix puede encontrarse en su [documentación](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). El [trinquete criptográfico Olm](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) utilizado por Matrix es una implementación del [algoritmo Double Ratchet](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet) de Signal.
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
@@ -253,7 +215,7 @@ Session utiliza la red descentralizada [Oxen Service Node Network](https://oxen.
|
||||
|
||||
Session permite E2EE en chats individuales o grupos cerrados que admiten hasta 100 miembros. También es posible [crear](https://docs.oxen.io/oxen-docs/products-built-on-oxen/session/guides/open-group-setup) o unirse a grupos abiertos que pueden albergar a miles de miembros, pero los mensajes en estos grupos abiertos **no** están cifrados de extremo a extremo entre los participantes.
|
||||
|
||||
Session se basaba anteriormente en el Protocolo Signal antes de sustituirlo por el suyo propio en diciembre de 2020. El Protocolo Session [no](https://getsession.org/blog/session-protocol-technical-information) soporta el secreto hacia adelante.[^1]
|
||||
Session se basaba anteriormente en el Protocolo Signal antes de sustituirlo por el suyo propio en diciembre de 2020. Session Protocol does [not](https://getsession.org/blog/session-protocol-technical-information) support forward secrecy.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
Oxen solicitó una auditoría independiente para Session en marzo de 2020. La auditoría [concluyó](https://getsession.org/session-code-audit) en abril de 2021:
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -277,12 +239,12 @@ Session has a [white paper](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2002.04609.pdf) describing the
|
||||
|
||||
Nuestro criterio del mejor caso representa lo que nos gustaría ver del proyecto perfecto en esta categoría. Es posible que nuestras recomendaciones no incluyan todas o algunas de estas funciones, pero las que sí las incluyan pueden estar mejor clasificadas que otras en esta página.
|
||||
|
||||
- Admite el secreto hacia adelante[^1]
|
||||
- Supports forward secrecy[^1]
|
||||
- Admite el Secreto Futuro (Seguridad Poscompromiso)[^2]
|
||||
- Dispone de servidores de código abierto.
|
||||
- Descentralizado, es decir, [federado o P2P](advanced/communication-network-types.md).
|
||||
- Utiliza E2EE para todos los mensajes por defecto.
|
||||
- Compatible con Linux, macOS, Windows, Android e iOS.
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: [El secreto hacia adelante](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_secrecy) es cuando las claves se rotan con mucha frecuencia, de modo que si la clave de cifrado actual se ve comprometida, no expone también los mensajes **anteriores**.
|
||||
[^1]: [Forward secrecy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_secrecy) is where keys are rotated very frequently, so that if the current encryption key is compromised, it does not expose **past** messages as well.
|
||||
[^2]: El Secreto Futuro (o Seguridad Poscompromiso) es una característica que impide a un atacante descifrar mensajes **futuros** después de comprometer una clave privada, a menos que comprometa también más claves de sesión en el futuro. Esto obliga al atacante a interceptar todas las comunicaciones entre las partes, ya que pierde el acceso en cuanto se produce un intercambio de claves que no es interceptado.
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censura](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Capitalismo de Vigilancia](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Página Principal](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Política de Privacidad" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentación" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Código Fuente" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Cifrado
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criterios
|
||||
|
||||
**Por favor, ten en cuenta que no estamos afiliados a ninguno de los proyectos que recomendamos.** Además de [nuestros criterios estándar](about/criteria.md), hemos desarrollado un conjunto claro de requisitos que nos permiten ofrecer recomendaciones objetivas. Sugerimos que te familiarices con esta lista, antes de decidir utilizar un proyecto y realizar tu propia investigación para asegurarte de que es la elección ideal para ti.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+5
-5
@@ -595,11 +595,10 @@ Para cifrar su unidad de SO, normalmente recomendamos utilizar la herramienta de
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -610,6 +609,7 @@ Para cifrar su unidad de SO, normalmente recomendamos utilizar la herramienta de
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Censorship online can be carried out (to varying degrees) by actors including to
|
||||
|
||||
Censorship on corporate platforms is increasingly common, as platforms like Twitter and Facebook give in to public demand, market pressures, and pressures from government agencies. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criteria
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ La censure en ligne peut être exercée (à des degrés divers) par des acteurs
|
||||
|
||||
La censure sur les plateformes privées est de plus en plus courante, car des plateformes comme Twitter et Facebook cèdent à la demande du public, aux pressions du marché et à celles des agences gouvernementales. Les pressions gouvernementales peuvent prendre la forme de demandes secrètes adressées aux entreprises, comme la Maison Blanche [demandant le retrait](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) d'une vidéo provocante sur YouTube, ou de demandes manifestes, comme le gouvernement chinois exigeant des entreprises qu'elles adhèrent à un régime de censure strict.
|
||||
|
||||
Les personnes concernées par la menace de la censure peuvent utiliser des technologies comme [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) pour la contourner, et soutenir des plateformes de communication résistantes à la censure comme [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), qui ne dispose pas d'une autorité centralisée pouvant fermer des comptes de manière arbitraire.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ Ces messageries instantanées ne disposent pas de la confidentialité persistant
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Chiffrement
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Critères
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. Nous vous suggérons de vous familiariser avec cette liste avant de choisir d'utiliser un projet, et de mener vos propres recherches pour vous assurer que c'est le bon choix pour vous.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -591,7 +591,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -603,6 +602,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Additionally, even companies outside the *AdTech* or tracking industry can share
|
||||
|
||||
צנזורה על פלטפורמות ארגוניות נפוצה יותר ויותר, שכן פלטפורמות כמו טוויטר ופייסבוק נכנעות לדרישת הציבור, לחצי השוק וללחצים של סוכנויות ממשלתיות. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
אנשים המודאגים מהאיום של צנזורה יכולים להשתמש בטכנולוגיות כמו [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) כדי לעקוף אותו, ולתמוך בפלטפורמות תקשורת עמידות לצנזורה כמו [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), שאין לה סמכות חשבון מרכזית יכול לסגור חשבונות באופן שרירותי.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ These options can be found in :material-menu: → :gear: **Settings** → **Priv
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] Select **Always use secure connections**
|
||||
|
||||
זה מונע ממך להתחבר ללא כוונה לאתר אינטרנט ב-HTTP בטקסט רגיל. HTTP is extremely uncommon nowadays, so this should have little to no impact on your day-to-day browsing.
|
||||
This prevents you from unintentionally connecting to a website in plain-text HTTP. HTTP is extremely uncommon nowadays, so this should have little to no impact on your day-to-day browsing.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Adblock Plus settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ This prevents Siri from using content from Safari for Siri suggestions.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Disable **Search Engine Suggestions**
|
||||
|
||||
This setting sends whatever you type in the address bar to the search engine set in Safari. השבתת הצעות חיפוש מאפשרת לך לשלוט בצורה מדויקת יותר באילו נתונים אתה שולח לספק מנועי החיפוש שלך.
|
||||
This setting sends whatever you type in the address bar to the search engine set in Safari. Disabling search suggestions allows you to more precisely control what data you send to your search engine provider.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Profiles
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### הצפנה
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## קריטריונים
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. אנו מציעים לך להכיר את הרשימה הזו לפני שתבחר להשתמש בפרויקט, ולערוך מחקר משלך כדי להבטיח שזו הבחירה הנכונה עבורך.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Censorship online can be carried out (to varying degrees) by actors including to
|
||||
|
||||
Censorship on corporate platforms is increasingly common, as platforms like Twitter and Facebook give in to public demand, market pressures, and pressures from government agencies. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criteria
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Censorship online can be carried out (to varying degrees) by actors including to
|
||||
|
||||
Censorship on corporate platforms is increasingly common, as platforms like Twitter and Facebook give in to public demand, market pressures, and pressures from government agencies. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Követelmények
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. Javasoljuk, hogy ismerkedj meg ezzel a listával, mielőtt kiválasztanál egy projektet, és végezz saját kutatásokat, hogy megbizonyosodj arról, hogy ez a megfelelő választás számodra.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Penyensoran secara daring bisa dilakukan (dalam berbagai tingkatan) oleh berbaga
|
||||
|
||||
Penyensoran pada platform perusahaan semakin umum terjadi, karena platform seperti Twitter dan Facebook menyerah pada permintaan publik, tekanan pasar, dan tekanan dari lembaga pemerintah. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
Orang-orang yang khawatir dengan ancaman penyensoran dapat menggunakan teknologi seperti [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) untuk mengelakkannya, dan mendukung platform komunikasi yang tahan sensor seperti [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), yang tidak memiliki otoritas akun terpusat yang dapat menutup akun secara sewenang-wenang.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Enkripsi
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Kriteria
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. Kami sarankan Anda membiasakan diri dengan daftar ini sebelum memilih untuk menggunakan sebuah proyek, dan melakukan penelitian sendiri untuk memastikan bahwa itu adalah pilihan yang tepat untuk Anda.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ La censura online è attuabile (in varie misure) da attori tra cui i governi tot
|
||||
|
||||
La censura sulle piattaforme aziendali è sempre più comune, in quanto piattaforme come Twitter e Facebook cedono alle richieste del pubblico, alle pressioni di mercato e alle pressioni dalle agenzie governative. Le pressioni governative possono essere richieste segrete alle aziende, come la [richiesta di rimozione](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) della Casa Bianca di un video YouTube provocativo, o palesi, come il governo cinese che richiede alle aziende di aderire a un rigido regime di censura.
|
||||
|
||||
Le persone preoccupate dalla minaccia della censura possono utilizzare tecnologie come [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) per aggirarla, e supportare le piattaforme di comunicazione resistenti alla censura come [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), prive di autorità centralizzata che possa chiudere arbitrariamente i profili.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Suggerimento</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ Questi messanger non hanno la segretezza in avanti[^1], e mentre soddisfano dete
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Crittografia
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criteri
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. Ti suggeriamo di familiarizzare con questo elenco prima di scegliere di utilizzare un progetto e di condurre le tue ricerche per assicurarti che si tratti della scelta adatta a te.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+5
-5
@@ -594,11 +594,10 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ GoogleやFacebookのような巨大な広告ネットワークやその他多数
|
||||
|
||||
TwitterやFacebookのようなプラットフォームでは、世間の要求、市場による圧力や政府機関からの圧力に応じており、企業のプラットフォームにおける検閲はますます一般的になっています。 政府からの圧力は、ホワイトハウスが挑発的なYouTubeの動画に対する[削除要求](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html)をしたように企業へ秘密裏に行われることもあれば、中国政府が企業へ厳しい検閲体制の遵守を要求するように公然と行われることもあります。
|
||||
|
||||
検閲への脅威を懸念する人は、[Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md)のような技術で検閲を回避し、勝手にアカウントを閉鎖できる中央集権的なアカウント権限のない[Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element)のような検閲に強いコミュニケーションプラットフォームをサポートすることができます。
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">ヒント</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### 暗号化
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## 規準
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. プロジェクトを利用する前に、このリストをよく理解し、ご自身で調査を行って、そのプロジェクトがあなたにとって適切な選択かどうかをご確認ください。
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: Job Openings
|
||||
description: Privacy Guides has a small, remote team of privacy researchers and advocates. Any open positions we may have in the future will be posted here.
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Privacy Guides has a small, remote team of privacy researchers and advocates working to further our mission of protecting free expression and promoting privacy-respecting technology. As a non-profit, we are expanding very slowly to ensure the project is sustainable in the long term. All of our team members are listed [here](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/u?group=team\&order=solutions\&period=all). Please consider [donating](https://donate.magicgrants.org/privacyguides) to support our cause.
|
||||
Privacy Guides has a small, remote team of privacy researchers and advocates working to further our mission of protecting free expression and promoting privacy-respecting technology. As a non-profit, we are expanding very slowly to ensure the project is sustainable in the long term. All of our team members are listed here. Please consider donating to support our cause.
|
||||
|
||||
We are occasionally looking for strong journalistic writers, product reviewers, and privacy experts to help us out, and any open positions will be posted below.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Additionally, even companies outside the *AdTech* or tracking industry can share
|
||||
|
||||
Twitter, Facebook 같은 플랫폼이 대중의 요구, 시장의 압력, 정부 기관의 압력에 굴복하면서, 기업 플랫폼에서의 검열은 점점 보편화되고 있습니다. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
검열 위협이 우려될 경우, [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) 등의 기술을 사용해 검열을 우회할 수 있으며, [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element) 처럼 중앙 집중식 계정 시스템이 없는(플랫폼이 독단적으로 누군가의 계정을 차단할 수 없는) 검열 방지 통신 플랫폼을 지원할 수 있습니다.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ These options can be found in :material-menu: → :gear: **Settings** → **Priv
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] Select **Always use secure connections**
|
||||
|
||||
의도치 않게 일반 텍스트 HTTP로 웹사이트에 연결되는 것을 방지합니다. HTTP is extremely uncommon nowadays, so this should have little to no impact on your day-to-day browsing.
|
||||
This prevents you from unintentionally connecting to a website in plain-text HTTP. HTTP is extremely uncommon nowadays, so this should have little to no impact on your day-to-day browsing.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Adblock Plus settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ This prevents Siri from using content from Safari for Siri suggestions.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Disable **Search Engine Suggestions**
|
||||
|
||||
This setting sends whatever you type in the address bar to the search engine set in Safari. 검색 제안을 비활성화하여 검색 엔진 제공 업체에 전송하는 데이터를 보다 신중하게 조절할 수 있습니다.
|
||||
This setting sends whatever you type in the address bar to the search engine set in Safari. Disabling search suggestions allows you to more precisely control what data you send to your search engine provider.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Profiles
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -48,9 +48,9 @@ Choose an **office suite** that does not require logging in to an account to acc
|
||||
**OnlyOffice** is a cloud-based free and open-source office suite with extensive functionality, including integration with Nextcloud.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://onlyoffice.com){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://help.onlyoffice.com/products/files/doceditor.aspx?fileid=5048502\&doc=SXhWMEVzSEYxNlVVaXJJeUVtS0kyYk14YWdXTEFUQmRWL250NllHNUFGbz0_IjUwNDg1MDIi0){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://helpcenter.onlyoffice.com/userguides.aspx){ .card-link title=Documentation}
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/ONLYOFFICE){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
:octicons-eye-16:{ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
:octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title=Documentation}
|
||||
:octicons-code-16:{ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ To change any group policy, double click it and select Enabled or Disabled at th
|
||||
#### Device Guard
|
||||
|
||||
- Turn On Virtualization Based Security: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Platform Security Level: **Secure Boot and DMA Protection**
|
||||
- Secure Launch Configuration: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Platform Security Level: **Secure Boot and DMA Protection**
|
||||
- Secure Launch Configuration: **Enabled**
|
||||
|
||||
#### Internet Communication Management
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -52,14 +52,14 @@ AutoRun and AutoPlay are features which allow Windows to run a script or perform
|
||||
- Turn off AutoPlay: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Disallow Autoplay for nonvolume devices: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Set the default behavior for AutoRun: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Default AutoRun Behavior: **Do not execute any AutoRun commands**
|
||||
- Default AutoRun Behavior: **Do not execute any AutoRun commands**
|
||||
|
||||
#### BitLocker Drive Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
You may wish to re-encrypt your operating system drive after changing these settings.
|
||||
|
||||
- Choose drive encryption method and cipher strength (Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7): **Enabled**
|
||||
- Select the encryption method: **AES-256**
|
||||
- Select the encryption method: **AES-256**
|
||||
|
||||
Setting the cipher strength for the Windows 7 policy still applies that strength to newer versions of Windows.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -85,12 +85,12 @@ Despite the names of these policies, this doesn't _require_ you to do anything b
|
||||
#### Data Collection and Preview Builds
|
||||
|
||||
- Allow Diagnostic Data: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Options: **Send required diagnostic data** (Pro Edition); or
|
||||
- Options: **Diagnostic data off** (Enterprise or Education Edition)
|
||||
- Options: **Send required diagnostic data** (Pro Edition); or
|
||||
- Options: **Diagnostic data off** (Enterprise or Education Edition)
|
||||
- Limit Diagnostic Log Collection: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Limit Dump Collection: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Limit optional diagnostic data for Desktop Analytics: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Options: **Disable Desktop Analytics collection**
|
||||
- Options: **Disable Desktop Analytics collection**
|
||||
- Do not show feedback notifications: **Enabled**
|
||||
|
||||
#### File Explorer
|
||||
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ This last setting disables OneDrive on your system; make sure to change it to **
|
||||
- Allow Cortana: **Disabled**
|
||||
- Don't search the web or display web results in Search: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Set what information is shared in Search: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Type of information: **Anonymous info**
|
||||
- Type of information: **Anonymous info**
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sync your settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -132,4 +132,4 @@ This last setting disables OneDrive on your system; make sure to change it to **
|
||||
|
||||
- Do not send additional data: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Consent > Configure Default consent: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Consent level: **Always ask before sending data**
|
||||
- Consent level: **Always ask before sending data**
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### 암호화
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## 평가 기준
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. 어떠한 프로젝트를 선택해 사용하기 전에, 이러한 요구 사항들을 숙지하고 여러분 스스로 조사하는 과정을 거쳐 적절한 선택을 하시기 바랍니다.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Censorship online can be carried out (to varying degrees) by actors including to
|
||||
|
||||
Censorship on corporate platforms is increasingly common, as platforms like Twitter and Facebook give in to public demand, market pressures, and pressures from government agencies. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criteria
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: Job Openings
|
||||
description: Privacy Guides has a small, remote team of privacy researchers and advocates. Any open positions we may have in the future will be posted here.
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Privacy Guides has a small, remote team of privacy researchers and advocates working to further our mission of protecting free expression and promoting privacy-respecting technology. As a non-profit, we are expanding very slowly to ensure the project is sustainable in the long term. All of our team members are listed [here](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/u?group=team\&order=solutions\&period=all). Please consider [donating](https://donate.magicgrants.org/privacyguides) to support our cause.
|
||||
Privacy Guides has a small, remote team of privacy researchers and advocates working to further our mission of protecting free expression and promoting privacy-respecting technology. As a non-profit, we are expanding very slowly to ensure the project is sustainable in the long term. All of our team members are listed here. Please consider donating to support our cause.
|
||||
|
||||
We are occasionally looking for strong journalistic writers, product reviewers, and privacy experts to help us out, and any open positions will be posted below.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Censuur online kan (in verschillende mate) worden uitgeoefend door actoren zoals
|
||||
|
||||
Censuur op bedrijfsplatforms komt steeds vaker voor, nu platforms als Twitter en Facebook toegeven aan de vraag van het publiek, de druk van de markt en de druk van overheidsinstanties. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
Mensen die bezorgd zijn over de dreiging van censuur kunnen technologieën als [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) gebruiken om die te omzeilen, en steun verlenen aan censuurbestendige communicatieplatforms als [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), dat geen gecentraliseerde accountautoriteit heeft die willekeurig accounts kan sluiten.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ These options can be found in :material-menu: → :gear: **Settings** → **Priv
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] Select **Always use secure connections**
|
||||
|
||||
Dit voorkomt dat je onbedoeld verbinding maakt met een website in platte HTTP-tekst. HTTP is extremely uncommon nowadays, so this should have little to no impact on your day-to-day browsing.
|
||||
This prevents you from unintentionally connecting to a website in plain-text HTTP. HTTP is extremely uncommon nowadays, so this should have little to no impact on your day-to-day browsing.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Adblock Plus settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ This prevents Siri from using content from Safari for Siri suggestions.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Disable **Search Engine Suggestions**
|
||||
|
||||
This setting sends whatever you type in the address bar to the search engine set in Safari. Door zoeksuggesties uit te schakelen, kun je nauwkeuriger bepalen welke gegevens je naar jouw zoekmachineprovider stuurt.
|
||||
This setting sends whatever you type in the address bar to the search engine set in Safari. Disabling search suggestions allows you to more precisely control what data you send to your search engine provider.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Profiles
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -48,9 +48,9 @@ Choose an **office suite** that does not require logging in to an account to acc
|
||||
**OnlyOffice** is a cloud-based free and open-source office suite with extensive functionality, including integration with Nextcloud.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://onlyoffice.com){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://help.onlyoffice.com/products/files/doceditor.aspx?fileid=5048502\&doc=SXhWMEVzSEYxNlVVaXJJeUVtS0kyYk14YWdXTEFUQmRWL250NllHNUFGbz0_IjUwNDg1MDIi0){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://helpcenter.onlyoffice.com/userguides.aspx){ .card-link title=Documentation}
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/ONLYOFFICE){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
:octicons-eye-16:{ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
:octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title=Documentation}
|
||||
:octicons-code-16:{ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ To change any group policy, double click it and select Enabled or Disabled at th
|
||||
#### Device Guard
|
||||
|
||||
- Turn On Virtualization Based Security: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Platform Security Level: **Secure Boot and DMA Protection**
|
||||
- Secure Launch Configuration: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Platform Security Level: **Secure Boot and DMA Protection**
|
||||
- Secure Launch Configuration: **Enabled**
|
||||
|
||||
#### Internet Communication Management
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -52,14 +52,14 @@ AutoRun and AutoPlay are features which allow Windows to run a script or perform
|
||||
- Turn off AutoPlay: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Disallow Autoplay for nonvolume devices: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Set the default behavior for AutoRun: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Default AutoRun Behavior: **Do not execute any AutoRun commands**
|
||||
- Default AutoRun Behavior: **Do not execute any AutoRun commands**
|
||||
|
||||
#### BitLocker Drive Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
You may wish to re-encrypt your operating system drive after changing these settings.
|
||||
|
||||
- Choose drive encryption method and cipher strength (Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7): **Enabled**
|
||||
- Select the encryption method: **AES-256**
|
||||
- Select the encryption method: **AES-256**
|
||||
|
||||
Setting the cipher strength for the Windows 7 policy still applies that strength to newer versions of Windows.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -85,12 +85,12 @@ Despite the names of these policies, this doesn't _require_ you to do anything b
|
||||
#### Data Collection and Preview Builds
|
||||
|
||||
- Allow Diagnostic Data: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Options: **Send required diagnostic data** (Pro Edition); or
|
||||
- Options: **Diagnostic data off** (Enterprise or Education Edition)
|
||||
- Options: **Send required diagnostic data** (Pro Edition); or
|
||||
- Options: **Diagnostic data off** (Enterprise or Education Edition)
|
||||
- Limit Diagnostic Log Collection: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Limit Dump Collection: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Limit optional diagnostic data for Desktop Analytics: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Options: **Disable Desktop Analytics collection**
|
||||
- Options: **Disable Desktop Analytics collection**
|
||||
- Do not show feedback notifications: **Enabled**
|
||||
|
||||
#### File Explorer
|
||||
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ This last setting disables OneDrive on your system; make sure to change it to **
|
||||
- Allow Cortana: **Disabled**
|
||||
- Don't search the web or display web results in Search: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Set what information is shared in Search: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Type of information: **Anonymous info**
|
||||
- Type of information: **Anonymous info**
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sync your settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -132,4 +132,4 @@ This last setting disables OneDrive on your system; make sure to change it to **
|
||||
|
||||
- Do not send additional data: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Consent > Configure Default consent: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Consent level: **Always ask before sending data**
|
||||
- Consent level: **Always ask before sending data**
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encryptie
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criteria
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. Wij stellen voor dat je jezelf vertrouwd maakt met deze lijst voordat je een project kiest, en jouw eigen onderzoek uitvoert om er zeker van te zijn dat je de juiste keuze maakt.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Censorship online can be carried out (to varying degrees) by actors including to
|
||||
|
||||
Censorship on corporate platforms is increasingly common, as platforms like Twitter and Facebook give in to public demand, market pressures, and pressures from government agencies. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criteria
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ Censorship online can be carried out (to varying degrees) by actors including to
|
||||
|
||||
Censorship on corporate platforms is increasingly common, as platforms like Twitter and Facebook give in to public demand, market pressures, and pressures from government agencies. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censura](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Criteria
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
+1
-1
@@ -597,7 +597,6 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Signal](real-time-communication.md#signal)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Briar](real-time-communication.md#briar)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [SimpleX Chat](real-time-communication.md#simplex-chat)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](real-time-communication.md#element)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Session](real-time-communication.md#session)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
@@ -609,6 +608,7 @@ For encrypting your OS drive, we typically recommend using the encryption tool y
|
||||
<div class="grid cards" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Mastodon](social-networks.md#mastodon)
|
||||
- { .twemoji loading=lazy } [Element](social-networks.md#element)
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: Job Openings
|
||||
description: Privacy Guides has a small, remote team of privacy researchers and advocates. Any open positions we may have in the future will be posted here.
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Privacy Guides has a small, remote team of privacy researchers and advocates working to further our mission of protecting free expression and promoting privacy-respecting technology. As a non-profit, we are expanding very slowly to ensure the project is sustainable in the long term. All of our team members are listed [here](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/u?group=team\&order=solutions\&period=all). Please consider [donating](https://donate.magicgrants.org/privacyguides) to support our cause.
|
||||
Privacy Guides has a small, remote team of privacy researchers and advocates working to further our mission of protecting free expression and promoting privacy-respecting technology. As a non-profit, we are expanding very slowly to ensure the project is sustainable in the long term. All of our team members are listed here. Please consider donating to support our cause.
|
||||
|
||||
We are occasionally looking for strong journalistic writers, product reviewers, and privacy experts to help us out, and any open positions will be posted below.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ A censura online pode ser realizada (em diferentes graus) por diversos atores, i
|
||||
|
||||
A censura nas plataformas corporativas é cada vez mais comum, uma vez que plataformas como o Twitter e o Facebook cedem à procura pública, às pressões do mercado e às pressões das agências governamentais. Government pressures can be covert requests to businesses, such as the White House [requesting the takedown](https://nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/on-the-web-a-fine-line-on-free-speech-across-globe.html) of a provocative YouTube video, or overt, such as the Chinese government requiring companies to adhere to a strict regime of censorship.
|
||||
|
||||
As pessoas que se preocupam com a ameaça da censura podem usar tecnologias como o [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) para contorná-la, e utilizar plataformas de comunicação resistentes à censura, como o [Matrix](../real-time-communication.md#element), que não tem uma autoridade de conta centralizada que pode fechar as contas arbitrariamente.
|
||||
People concerned with the threat of censorship can use technologies like [Tor](../advanced/tor-overview.md) to circumvent it, and support censorship-resistant communication platforms like [Matrix](../social-networks.md#element), which doesn't have a centralized account authority that can close accounts arbitrarily.
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
|
||||
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ These options can be found in :material-menu: → :gear: **Settings** → **Priv
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] Select **Always use secure connections**
|
||||
|
||||
Esta opção impede-o de se ligar involuntariamente a um site em texto simples HTTP. HTTP is extremely uncommon nowadays, so this should have little to no impact on your day-to-day browsing.
|
||||
This prevents you from unintentionally connecting to a website in plain-text HTTP. HTTP is extremely uncommon nowadays, so this should have little to no impact on your day-to-day browsing.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Adblock Plus settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ This prevents Siri from using content from Safari for Siri suggestions.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Disable **Search Engine Suggestions**
|
||||
|
||||
This setting sends whatever you type in the address bar to the search engine set in Safari. A desativação das sugestões de pesquisa permite-lhe controlar com maior precisão os dados que envia ao seu fornecedor de motores de pesquisa.
|
||||
This setting sends whatever you type in the address bar to the search engine set in Safari. Disabling search suggestions allows you to more precisely control what data you send to your search engine provider.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Profiles
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -48,9 +48,9 @@ Choose an **office suite** that does not require logging in to an account to acc
|
||||
**OnlyOffice** is a cloud-based free and open-source office suite with extensive functionality, including integration with Nextcloud.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://onlyoffice.com){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://help.onlyoffice.com/products/files/doceditor.aspx?fileid=5048502\&doc=SXhWMEVzSEYxNlVVaXJJeUVtS0kyYk14YWdXTEFUQmRWL250NllHNUFGbz0_IjUwNDg1MDIi0){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://helpcenter.onlyoffice.com/userguides.aspx){ .card-link title=Documentation}
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/ONLYOFFICE){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
:octicons-eye-16:{ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
:octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title=Documentation}
|
||||
:octicons-code-16:{ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ To change any group policy, double click it and select Enabled or Disabled at th
|
||||
#### Device Guard
|
||||
|
||||
- Turn On Virtualization Based Security: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Platform Security Level: **Secure Boot and DMA Protection**
|
||||
- Secure Launch Configuration: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Platform Security Level: **Secure Boot and DMA Protection**
|
||||
- Secure Launch Configuration: **Enabled**
|
||||
|
||||
#### Internet Communication Management
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -52,14 +52,14 @@ AutoRun and AutoPlay are features which allow Windows to run a script or perform
|
||||
- Turn off AutoPlay: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Disallow Autoplay for nonvolume devices: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Set the default behavior for AutoRun: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Default AutoRun Behavior: **Do not execute any AutoRun commands**
|
||||
- Default AutoRun Behavior: **Do not execute any AutoRun commands**
|
||||
|
||||
#### BitLocker Drive Encryption
|
||||
|
||||
You may wish to re-encrypt your operating system drive after changing these settings.
|
||||
|
||||
- Choose drive encryption method and cipher strength (Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7): **Enabled**
|
||||
- Select the encryption method: **AES-256**
|
||||
- Select the encryption method: **AES-256**
|
||||
|
||||
Setting the cipher strength for the Windows 7 policy still applies that strength to newer versions of Windows.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -85,12 +85,12 @@ Despite the names of these policies, this doesn't _require_ you to do anything b
|
||||
#### Data Collection and Preview Builds
|
||||
|
||||
- Allow Diagnostic Data: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Options: **Send required diagnostic data** (Pro Edition); or
|
||||
- Options: **Diagnostic data off** (Enterprise or Education Edition)
|
||||
- Options: **Send required diagnostic data** (Pro Edition); or
|
||||
- Options: **Diagnostic data off** (Enterprise or Education Edition)
|
||||
- Limit Diagnostic Log Collection: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Limit Dump Collection: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Limit optional diagnostic data for Desktop Analytics: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Options: **Disable Desktop Analytics collection**
|
||||
- Options: **Disable Desktop Analytics collection**
|
||||
- Do not show feedback notifications: **Enabled**
|
||||
|
||||
#### File Explorer
|
||||
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ This last setting disables OneDrive on your system; make sure to change it to **
|
||||
- Allow Cortana: **Disabled**
|
||||
- Don't search the web or display web results in Search: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Set what information is shared in Search: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Type of information: **Anonymous info**
|
||||
- Type of information: **Anonymous info**
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sync your settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -132,4 +132,4 @@ This last setting disables OneDrive on your system; make sure to change it to **
|
||||
|
||||
- Do not send additional data: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Consent > Configure Default consent: **Enabled**
|
||||
- Consent level: **Always ask before sending data**
|
||||
- Consent level: **Always ask before sending data**
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -184,44 +184,6 @@ These messengers do not have forward secrecy[^1], and while they fulfill certain
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im) protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) for secure decentralized real-time communication.
|
||||
|
||||
Messages and files shared in private rooms (those which require an invite) are by default E2EE, as are one-to-one voice and video calls.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown>
|
||||
<summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-globe-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
Profile pictures, reactions, and nicknames are not encrypted.
|
||||
|
||||
With the integration of [Element Call](https://element.io/blog/we-have-lift-off-element-x-call-and-server-suite-are-ready) into Element's web app, desktop apps, and its [rewritten mobile apps](https://element.io/blog/element-x-experience-the-future-of-element), group VoIP and video calls are E2EE by default.
|
||||
|
||||
The Matrix protocol itself [theoretically supports forward secrecy](https://gitlab.matrix.org/matrix-org/olm/blob/master/docs/megolm.md#partial-forward-secrecy)[^1], however this is [not currently supported in Element](https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/7101) due to it breaking some aspects of the user experience such as key backups and shared message history.
|
||||
|
||||
The protocol was independently [audited](https://matrix.org/blog/2016/11/21/matrixs-olm-end-to-end-encryption-security-assessment-released-and-implemented-cross-platform-on-riot-at-last) in 2016. The specification for the Matrix protocol can be found in their [documentation](https://spec.matrix.org/latest). The [Olm cryptographic ratchet](https://matrix.org/docs/matrix-concepts/end-to-end-encryption) used by Matrix is an implementation of Signal’s [Double Ratchet algorithm](https://signal.org/docs/specifications/doubleratchet).
|
||||
|
||||
### Session
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
+107
-30
@@ -10,23 +10,43 @@ cover: social-networks.webp
|
||||
- [:material-close-outline: Censorship](basics/common-threats.md#avoiding-censorship){ .pg-blue-gray }
|
||||
- [:material-account-cash: Surveillance Capitalism](basics/common-threats.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model){ .pg-brown }
|
||||
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information, like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
These privacy-respecting **social networks** allow you to participate in online communities without giving up your personal information like your full name, phone number, and other data commonly requested by tech companies.
|
||||
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies.
|
||||
A growing problem among social media platforms is censorship in two different forms. First, they often acquiesce to illegitimate censorship requests, either from malicious governments or their own internal policies. Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet; this effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
Second, they often require accounts to access walled-off content that would otherwise be published freely on the open internet. This effectively censors the browsing activities of privacy-conscious users who are unable to pay the privacy cost of opening an account on these networks.
|
||||
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. While it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server, there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
The social networks we recommend solve the issue of censorship by operating atop an open and decentralized social networking protocol. They also don't require an account merely to view publicly available content.
|
||||
|
||||
You should note that **no** social networks are appropriate for private or sensitive communications. For chatting directly with others, you should use a recommended [instant messenger](real-time-communication.md) with strong end-to-end encryption, and only use direct messages on social media in order to establish a more private and secure chat platform with your contacts.
|
||||
|
||||
## Decentralization
|
||||
|
||||
Decentralized social networks are built on an architecture that is fundamentally different than mainstream social media platforms, yet quite similar to the underlying structure of email. Instead of opening an account under a single, unified service like you would for Facebook or Discord, you instead choose an independent, public server to join. The server you join can communicate with and discover other servers; this aspect of decentralization is also known as _federation_.
|
||||
|
||||
A significant benefit of this decentralized model is that there is no central authority which can censor your account across the entire network, though it is possible for your account to be banned or silenced by an individual server.
|
||||
|
||||
A caveat of this decentralized model is that each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. Typically, the software on which the social network runs does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
## Censorship Resistance
|
||||
|
||||
While censorship in decentralized social networks does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on a server's administrator. Administrators have the power to _defederate_ from other servers, which leads to limiting the content you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content, the content available to you, or other servers, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host the social network software yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high.
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of hosting services which will create a brand-new server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your server, but completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people because you can benefit from greater control over your own server without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted server rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
|
||||
## Mastodon
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
**Mastodon** is a social network based on open web protocols and free, open-source software. It uses the **:simple-activitypub: ActivityPub** protocol, which is decentralized like email: Users can exist on different servers or even different platforms but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://joinmastodon.org){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://docs.joinmastodon.org){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
@@ -41,29 +61,11 @@ We chose to recommend Mastodon over other ActivityPub software as your primary s
|
||||
|
||||
2. Mastodon is largely usable with most content types. While it is primarily a microblogging platform, Mastodon easily handles longer posts, image posts, video posts, and most other posts you might encounter when following ActivityPub users who aren't on Mastodon. This makes your Mastodon account an ideal "central hub" for following anyone regardless of the platform they chose to use. In contrast, if you were only using a PeerTube account, you would _only_ be able to follow other video channels, for example.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon/) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
3. Mastodon has fairly comprehensive privacy controls. It has many built-in features which allow you to limit how and when your data is shared, some of which we'll cover below. They also develop new features with privacy in mind. For example, while other ActivityPub software quickly implemented "quote posts" by merely handling links to other posts with a slightly different embed modal, Mastodon is [developing](https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/02/bringing-quote-posts-to-mastodon) a quote post feature which will give you more fine-grained control when your post is quoted.
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing an Instance
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. While censorship in Mastodon does not exist on a network level, it is very possible to experience censorship on a server level depending on your server's administrator.
|
||||
|
||||
It is critical to understand that Mastodon is not a single, unified service in the way that X (Twitter) or Facebook are. Each server is its own legal entity, with its own privacy policy, terms of use, administration team, and moderators. While many of these servers are far _less_ restrictive and more privacy-respecting than traditional social media platforms, some can be far _more_ restrictive or potentially _worse_ for your privacy. The Mastodon software does not discriminate between these administrators or place any limitations on their powers.
|
||||
|
||||
We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
If you are greatly concerned about an existing server censoring your content or the content you can view, you generally have two options:
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Host Mastodon yourself.** This approach gives you the exact same censorship resistance as any other website you can host yourself, which is fairly high. Mastodon even [integrates with the Tor network](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/optional/tor) for more extreme scenarios where even your underlying hosting provider is subject to censorship, but this may limit who can access your content to only other servers which integrate with Tor, like most other hidden services.
|
||||
|
||||
Mastodon benefits greatly from a large and active self-hosting community, and its administration is comprehensively documented. While many other ActivityPub platforms can require extensive technical knowledge to run and troubleshoot, Mastodon has very stable and tested releases, and it can generally be run securely without issue by anyone who can use the Linux command line and follow [step-by-step instructions](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/prerequisites).
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Use a managed hosting service.** We don't have any specific recommendations, but there are a variety of Mastodon hosting services which will create a brand-new Mastodon server on your own domain (or occasionally a subdomain of their domain, but we recommend against this unless registering your own domain presents too much of a burden to your privacy).
|
||||
|
||||
Typically, Mastodon hosting providers will handle the _technical_ side of your instance, but they completely leave the _moderation_ side up to you. This means that you will be able to follow any content you like, although it may expose you to more spam or unwanted content because you will not have the dedicated moderation team many larger instances will have.
|
||||
|
||||
This often represents a better approach than self-hosting for most people, because you can benefit from greater control over your own instance without worrying about technical problems or unpatched security vulnerabilities.
|
||||
|
||||
You should look closely at your hosting provider's terms of service and acceptable use policies before registering. These are often far more broad than typical hosted instance rules, and they are far less likely to be enforced without recourse, but they can still be restrictive in undesirable ways.
|
||||
To benefit the most from Mastodon, it is critical to choose a server, or "instance," which is well aligned with the type of content you want to post or read about. We do not currently recommend any specific instances, but you may find advice within our communities. We recommend avoiding _mastodon.social_ and _mastodon.online_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Mastodon itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ There are a number of privacy controls under the **privacy and reach** tab here.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Automatically accept new followers**: You should consider unchecking this box to have a private profile. This will allow you to review who can follow your account before accepting them.
|
||||
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers, and which can still be boosted and seen by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
In contrast to most social media platforms, if you have a private profile you still have the _option_ to publish posts which are publicly visible to non-followers and can still be boosted by non-followers. Therefore, unchecking this box is the only way to have the _choice_ to publish to either the entire world or a select group of people.
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] **Show follows and followers on profile**: You should uncheck this box to hide your social graph from the public. It is fairly uncommon for the list of people you follow to have some genuine benefit to others, but that information can present a risk to you.
|
||||
|
||||
@@ -104,17 +106,92 @@ It is very rare for social media posts older than a few weeks to be read or rele
|
||||
When publishing a new post, you will have the option to choose from one of these visibility settings:
|
||||
|
||||
- **Public**, which publishes your content to anyone on the internet.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Quiet public**, which you should consider equivalent to publicly posting! This is not a technical guarantee, but merely a request you are making to other servers to hide your post from some feeds.
|
||||
- **Followers**, which publishes your content only to your followers. If you did not follow our recommendation of restricting your followers, you should consider this equivalent to publicly posting!
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier, since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
- **Specific people**, which only shares the post with people who are specifically mentioned within the post. This is Mastodon's version of direct messages, but should never be relied on for private communications as we covered earlier since Mastodon has no E2EE.
|
||||
|
||||
If you used our recommended configuration settings above, you should be posting to **Followers** by default, and only posting to **Public** on an intentional and case-by-case basis.
|
||||
|
||||
## Element
|
||||
|
||||
<div class="admonition recommendation" markdown>
|
||||
|
||||
{ align=right }
|
||||
|
||||
**Element** is the flagship client for the **:simple-matrix: [Matrix](https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/matrix-for-im)** protocol, an [open standard](https://spec.matrix.org/latest) that enables decentralized communication by way of federated chat rooms. Users can exist on different homeservers but still communicate with each other.
|
||||
|
||||
[:octicons-home-16: Homepage](https://element.io){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
|
||||
[:octicons-eye-16:](https://element.io/privacy){ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" }
|
||||
[:octicons-info-16:](https://element.io/help){ .card-link title="Documentation" }
|
||||
[:octicons-code-16:](https://github.com/element-hq){ .card-link title="Source Code" }
|
||||
|
||||
<details class="downloads" markdown><summary>Downloads</summary>
|
||||
|
||||
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=im.vector.app)
|
||||
- [:simple-appstore: App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1083446067)
|
||||
- [:simple-github: GitHub](https://github.com/element-hq/element-android/releases)
|
||||
- [:fontawesome-brands-windows: Windows](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-apple: macOS](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:simple-linux: Linux](https://element.io/download)
|
||||
- [:octicons-browser-16: Web](https://app.element.io)
|
||||
|
||||
</details>
|
||||
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
### Choosing a Homeserver
|
||||
|
||||
To benefit the most from Matrix, it is critical to choose a homeserver which is well aligned with the subject(s) you want to chat about. We do not currently recommend any specific homeservers, but you may find advice within our communities or third-party resources like [_joinmatrix.org_](https://servers.joinmatrix.org). We recommend avoiding _matrix.org_ because they are operated by the same company which develops Matrix itself. From the perspective of decentralization, it is better in the long term to separate software developers and server hosts so that no one party can exert too much control over the network as a whole.
|
||||
|
||||
### Recommended Privacy Settings
|
||||
|
||||
From Element's web or desktop app, go to :gear: → **All settings** to find these sections:
|
||||
|
||||
#### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
By default, when you log in to Element on a new device, the session name will be automatically populated with the Matrix client and platform you used for login. This information may be visible to other users depending on the Matrix client they use.
|
||||
|
||||
To prevent revealing information about your personal device to others unnecessarily, consider emptying the session name; this will change the session name to the randomly generated alphanumeric Session ID instead.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Preferences
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send read receipts**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Send typing notifications**
|
||||
|
||||
You should uncheck these options to reduce the exposure of metadata to other users when chatting in a public room.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Voice & Video
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow Peer-to-Peer for 1:1 calls**
|
||||
- [ ] Uncheck **Allow fallback call assist server (turn.matrix.org)**
|
||||
|
||||
If you do decide to use Element for one-to-one communication, we recommend unchecking these settings to prevent the exposure of your IP address to the other party.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Security & Privacy
|
||||
|
||||
##### Manage integrations (scalar.vector.im)
|
||||
|
||||
A Matrix integration manager connects Matrix to third-party services such as bots, bridges, and other enhancements. Element collects information to provide these services to those using an integration manager; you can review its detailed [Privacy Notice](https://element.io/integration-manager-privacy-notice) for the exact information Element collects and the ways it uses such information.
|
||||
|
||||
As an end user on a public homeserver, you can consider unchecking the **Enable the integration manager** option, which does not affect the visibility of bots or other third-party services. As a homeserver administrator, consider whether the additional parties with which you share your data are worth the extra functionality.
|
||||
|
||||
##### Sessions
|
||||
|
||||
- [ ] (Optional) Uncheck **Record the client name, version, and url to recognize sessions for easily in session manager**
|
||||
|
||||
Unchecking this option may make it more diffcult to discern your active sessions if you logged in to your Matrix account on multiple devices.
|
||||
|
||||
#### Encriptação
|
||||
|
||||
- [x] (Optional) Check **In encrypted rooms, only send messages to verified users**
|
||||
|
||||
With this setting enabled, unverified users (i.e., those who have not used the **Verify User** function) and unverified devices of verified users will not receive your messages in a room with encryption enabled. This may limit the messages you can view and the people you can interact with.
|
||||
|
||||
## Framadate
|
||||
|
||||
**Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend.** In addition to [our standard criteria](about/criteria.md), we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
|
||||
|
||||
- Must be free and open source software.
|
||||
- Must be free and open-source software.
|
||||
- Must use a federated protocol to communicate with other instances of the social networking software.
|
||||
- Must not have non-technical restrictions on who can be federated with.
|
||||
- Must be usable within a standard [web browser](desktop-browsers.md).
|
||||
|
||||
Some files were not shown because too many files have changed in this diff Show More
Reference in New Issue
Block a user