this post was submitted on 05 May 2025
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/0 Governance

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Ahoy me hearties!

To run alongside the discussion on the simplified Golden Rules for the instance, I decided to post a separate proposal for a single rule addition.

The proposed rule is: Off topic comments and downvote trolling to protest the use of genAI images is not permitted in our communities.


Edit2: The community feedback has been strongly positive, thanks for all your feedback. Notably, quite a few folks would like it to be more generic, to cater for future scenarios as well. So taking that into account, and adding the rationale for the change, I came up with:

To protect our communities, community members and mods from abuse: no comment trolling, dogpiling, or downvote trolling is allowed.

I hope that works for most folks, and please feel free to leave more comments if you can suggest an improved wording. I do read them all.


It would only apply to communities where GenAI art is not disallowed by the community rules, so mods can opt in or out.

Since the rule will likely attract some pushback from the anti-GenAI crowd, I wanted to run this proposal as a member vote to confirm we have broad support.

Exhibit 1 - dbzer0 Main Sidebar for context

Be Weird, Download a Car, Generate Art, Screw Copyrights

Communities about Anarchism, Generative AI, Copylefts, Neurodivergence, Filesharing, and Free Software.

Our instance has been associated with genAI art since its inception, because the founding admin, db0, has also spent years developing and maintaining FOSS Projects like AI Horde (a crowdsourced distributed cluster of image generation workers and text generation workers) and Haidra.

We have a number of popular genAI communities on our instance including:

Exhibit 2 - The Problem

This is the recent experience of one of our community mods:

"From the moment I started the [redacted] community here people have been brigading it trying to suppress it, and had I not had the sense to ban the droves of anti-AI trolls who come to downvote it into oblivion. They probably would be continuing to do so in insanely large volume. A lot of the users who come to downvote do so with empty no content accounts, but a lot are also trolls from the [email protected] community. I’ve also received a fair amount of harassment including threats and bad faith accusations from it like people saying I’m a pedophile or saying I’m pretending to be nonbinary over the fact that I like and use genAI. Really awful behavior that has no place on this instance of this community."

This sort of thing is hateful and should not have to be tolerated by our users. Let's call it what it is: bullying and harassment.

Exhibit 3 - Escalating Problems

If you take look at this post from today in the lighthearted Lefty Memes community, it's a total shit show of offtopic comments. I'm not going to re-litigate the whole experience here since there is a YPTB post about it here.

This sort of brigading is completely unwarranted and I regard it as hostile bullying behaviour towards our community members and moderators. It completely derails the comments and goes way off topic for the community. Even after repeatedly asking these users to open a meta post about the issues they clearly wanted to talk about, instead of brigading the comments, I was mostly ignored and eventually pretty much gave up on trying to moderate the post.

Conclusion

In summary, as an admin on this instance I've noticed a significant uptick in the amount and volume of trolling in our communities by this group of users. I'd like to make sure we have this rule in place so that we can continue to effectively moderate the instance for the enjoyment of our community members, and to protect our moderators and admins from abuse.

Thank you for your consideration. If you have any suggestions to improve the rule, or thoughts on the topic you wish to share, then please do so in the comments.

Edit: for detailed voting information see this post. But in summary, please upvote if you support the rule addition or downvote if you are opposed.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 days ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

Acknowledged governance topic opened by https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/u/flatworm7591 Early Bird: a parrot, orangered colors Jolly Roger: an icon of pirate jolly roger skull wearing a hat, in orange-red, black and white colors A book with a loaf of bread in the cover  in orange-red, black and white colors Deck Hand: An icon of anchor crossed with two staves in orange-red, black and white colors First Mate: a pirate ship's steering wheel, orangered color

This is a simple majority vote. The current tally is as follows:

  • For: MVP: a star icon, in orange-red, black and white colors (2), Powder Monkey: An icon of powder barrel in orange-red, black and white colors (1), First Mate: a pirate ship's steering wheel, orangered color (4), Vouched: a minimalist compass icon. Orangered color (7), Salty Dog: An icon of two crossed cutlasses with a skull in the center in orange-red, black and white colors (2), Threadiverse Enjoyer: An icon of a doubloon with a black hole in the center in orange-red, black and white colors (1), Deck Hand: An icon of anchor crossed with two staves in orange-red, black and white colors (2)
  • Against: Deck Hand: An icon of anchor crossed with two staves in orange-red, black and white colors
  • Local Community: +0.4
  • Outsider sentiment: Positive
  • Total: +18.4
  • Percentage: 95.00%

This vote will complete in 1 days


Reminder that this is a pilot process and results of voting are not set in stone.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

Let me start by saying that I am in favour of the rule. Going into topics-centered community and voicing against that topic is kind of stupid, and everybody should be able to feel safe in their own spaces. All my concerns (generality of the rule, downvote trolling and automating moderation) were already voiced by others and addressed one by one. Also, as a practical suggestion, maybe we can have sticky posts in each community where the rule will be applied? Not forever, but for a set period of time.

I waited longer to give my answer, as I am very skeptical about AI in general but in favour of many other instance topics, and I wanted to form my own opinion on the topic at hand before commenting. I am really happy at the level of the discussion here and how the feedback was received by OP. I didn't agree with some comments on other posts leading to this one, but I am happy to see that the discussion was kept objective and on-point, so a huge thank to OP and everyone who participated for showing me how the instance governance and discussion works (I'm relatively new here).

In the end, while I don't go specifically go searching for AI content and barely see it in my feed, I am happy that stuff like AI-horde exist, and I really think it's a good way of doing things. And in general, the governance experiment here and the way this instance is managed is way more important for me than my own opinions on AI.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

We are still feeling out the governance experiment, but it's working out pretty good so far I think. I genuinely find the feedback helpful, and I'm sure we arrived at a better version of the rule because of the community feedback. So thanks for your input.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago

I totally agree with you, thanks for suggesting this change.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Disagree. Rule is too narrow- make it broader about brigading and not AI specific.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

I've rewritten the proposed rule at the top of the post, if you want to check it out.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I am for the rule change.

Gen AI is a great invention. That doesn't mean i cannot be critical of how it gets shoved into spaces where it doesn't belong, because a shitton of money get injected in it by venture capitalists in their neverending search for the next big thing.

But that's not what's happening here, where people are using (local) models to create images to enjoy and to be creative and not data centers wrongly answering inane questions.

The current models are snapshots of the current human culture, and should belong to all of us. i don't think it's fair to come here and behave like a drunk in a dive bar because they suddendly became friendly with rights holders (who have tried to fuck over single users downloading some shitty pop songs with life destroying lawsuits)

P.S.: I am a big piracy advocate, since i have been strapped for cash for my whole life and i would have been excluded from a lot of society and culture if it weren't for the pirate hat. I therefore understand that current models would have been prohibitively expensive to create when taking every single copyright claim into consideration. I also think that for future models there should be a mechanism to make sure that creators get their fair share and the possibility to opt out if they really do not want to be included.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago

I heartily agree with your comment and it's points. Your phrasing and insight into the topic is a boon!

Seriously though, you nailed many of the thoughts I've had about this far better than my own attempts at turning them into language.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Personally, as an artist and also in regards to sustainability for example, I'm very AI-sceptic, but I get that this instance is pro AI, so I think it's a fair point. I can disagree but don't need to shove my opinion into dedicated AI communites/instances.

I'm just in for the other topics like foss and copylefts to name a few, if anyone wonders why I'm even here with my account.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

One thing I've noticed is no one is judging anybody for being here. It makes sense that not everybody is everything.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

Nice to see this expressed, whether we knew it all along or not.

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[–] [email protected] 44 points 5 days ago (3 children)

I fully support the sentiment, but as others have noted, calling out genai specifically is a bit limiting.

I would potentially propose something more to protect our other comms at the same time that might potentially get brigaded; IE: piracy

"Off topic comments and downvote trolling to protest the spirit of our communities for contentious topics will not be permitted."

Just my thoughts. Cover butts here if a change is made anyway since many of the core vibes of db0 are fairly contentious to begin with.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (8 children)

I love dbzer0 because it’s a pro-piracy, leftist instance with great moderation and a sizable userbase. I just sort of try my best to ignore the whole AI thing, not my cup of tea with the whole power consumption and art theft stuff. I’m all for “fuck copyright” when it comes to big corporations but I become a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to independent creators’ works being used to train AI models without their permission. I dunno, all of this has been said before by a thousand other people, you get the gist.

The issue I have is similar to the Nazi bar problem; If you have an AI-friendly community, you have an AI community. You can keep ignoring and blocking AI-posting users as they show up, but it’s easier to generate an image than to assemble one manually, so they keep showing up more and more. It becomes nigh impossible to “just ignore AI posts.” It’s part of why people get so hostile towards them, if people don’t react negatively to AI posts when they see them, people will post more and more of them.

Of course, harassment and bullying is unjustifiable. It’s the internet; some folks are gonna take things too far. Makes me sad to see the effect being separated by screens can produce.

To summarize, I’m all for pro-AI users to have a space to exist (y’know, like, this instance. maybe I should start searching for a different instance? Like, dbzer0 sans AI?), but it is easier said than done to just “ignore AI” without more of it showing up.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Honestly, I must have blocked most of the AI communities, or I just don't scroll through "local", but I scroll "subscribed" and "all", and I don't feel like I see a lot of AI stuff. I know it's there, but I have to look for it.

[–] expr 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I agree with this. Been considering switching to the instance, but don't really like all of the AI stuff. I don't really care about copyright, more about the effect on humanity in a much broader sense and the environment.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I agree also with both your comments. I didn't realize what I was signing onto when I read the rules. Im on board with everything it stands for, until we get to AI usage. Im not inherently against it, but we should be allowed go discuss it in a mature and productive way. It was easy to ignore before, as if it's not for you dont interject. As this topic has reached the center of the instance, it's now become more difficult to ignore.

Someone told me the other day, it was mitual aide to ban speech that was anti-ai, and that I likely never had anarchist ideals if I was against its use (big wut?) Whereas, I believe mutual aide would be to uplift smaller artists, and not using billionaire technology that actively steals from folks without permission, tracks our data, and harms the environment.

I believe AI can be too easily used by the "upper" classes to disenfranchise the "lower" ones, to that hold power, its not anarchist.

I don't want to leave this instance as I love everything else it stands for.

Edit: Then of course the first thing I see on YouTube

more perfect union

Like, this isn't just about being copyleft, this is detrimental to our country's earth piece. Corporate overlord shit.

I been punk too many decades you to tell me data centers align with human existence and free use.

If you wanna use AI, you are indeed free to do so, I dont think your wrong for doing so, however I suggest and expect you vet the technology you choose to engage with, so that is ethical to your best knowledge.

In a free society, where today we have threat to climate change, now met here, with deregulation, AI falls so far down the list for me. We don't yet have free society. It's like, why are we going to space when the planet is dying? There's so much poverty and pain and power being held over others I want to puke at the idea of data centers leaking horror into the earth, and they're not the only ones who do so as such. Corporate filth. I used to make the cable filler for wires that ended up with google running lines under the ocean. Extruded plastic, fucking dirty shit.

Thats it. That's the last I will ever engage on the topic. I am staying here, I don't know how to change an instance, nor do I care too. I like the learning that I get from all you folks out there. I've now said my piece to anyone who care to see.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

Thank you for sharing your views!

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I say yeah, it's the most sanity-inducing option to have both communities coexist.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Harassing a gen AI instance should certainly be blocked, but calling out ai art in a non ai focused instance should be allowed as long as it’s following other rules of not being shitty.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 days ago (15 children)

I think that should be up to the moderators of the community when they make that decision at the start of the community.

As it stands now, the anti AI crowd wants everything segregated. They whine and complain even if they happen to see AI used in communities they don't even belong to.

Segregating gen AI to only being used in communities that are for gen AI is kind of unfair to those who like to use it, and while people who dislike it shouldn't be forced to interact with it, people who don't shouldn't be disallowed from using it at all times, either.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 5 days ago (3 children)

I feel that this is already covered by the golden rules- namely "1. Don’t be shitty" and "6. When going to other communities, respect their and our rules" in the recent proposal.

The issue here is that certain comms affiliated with genai are being targeted by downvote brigades and trolls, yeah? I won't pretend to have the technical knowledge to provide a solution, but I would rather see efforts to generally combat that happening on /0, rather than carving out rules for targeted groups each time the issue arises.

To be clear, I'm not saying that genai users don't deserve a space where they can discuss their interest. I just don't think that carving out special protections is an actual solution to the problem.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Hmm I think you are right we could fall back on those existing rule, but hopefully the rewritten rule (see top of post again) is more general and does add something about protection of our users and communities.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

I like the rewrite! Many thanks for taking the time to actually read and consider community feedback :)

(I get that's the whole point of this comm but it's still refreshing compared to the wider Internet)

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 5 days ago (9 children)

downvote trolling

I think this needs some clarification about what does and does not warrant mod actions.

Comments are free-form, so are easy to determine as off topic and unlikely to hit bystanders, but downvotes don't communicate intent.

Anecdotally I have come across a post in a sub I like, found it glaringly annoying/ugly/wrong etc. downvoted, then seen another one and actually gone into the sub to see if it is a wider trend and specifically downvoted a bunch of these.
Lemmy is a rating system, I think this behavior is acceptable.

I would draw the line at coming back repeatedly to keep "filtering" in this way, while not otherwise being active in the community and while not being subscribed to it. (Not that being subscribed is even visible)

Is it possible to tell apart a lurker superhumanly good at finding genai really ugly, from the 15 downvote bots of an anti-genai brigadier?

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