This update contains three important announcements.
- We accidentally removed some domain blocks from some servers in November of 2024.
- We are updating our observed servers list.
- We are withholding threads.net from FediCheck temporarily.
1. Inadvertent Domain Removal
Between 5th November and 17th November, several domains on the CARIAD or DNI lists may have been inadvertently unblocked for users with automated updates enabled in FediCheck.
What Happened?
A human error during a software update caused certain domains to be temporarily removed from the managed lists. Due to our precautionary policy of not overwriting existing blocks, FediCheck’s logic may have determined to not reapply these blocks to your server.
It’s important to note:
- Not all servers were affected. It appears that nine FediCheck users were affected, and may have had one or more domains removed.
- The number of domains unblocked depends on the domains listed as “managed” by FediCheck on your server, and is likely between 0 and 11 domains.
- Domains you added manually prior to using FediCheck were not affected.
Of the domains inadvertently unblocked, the majority are inactive (either shut down or removed from service by their hosts or law enforcement). While this does not excuse our error, it may reduce concerns about the potential availability of harmful content on your server.
Next Steps
To help you verify and restore domain blocks where necessary, we are providing two options:
- Manually Importable CSV Files (as of December 2, 2024):
- Beta API Access (current list): use these links to access updated domain denylists:
These files and the API key will remain available until February 16, 2025.
If you choose to use the CSV import method, please carefully review the import notification at yourserver.example/admin/export_domain_blocks/new. If the import window is blank, no domains are missing on your server, nothing was unblocked. If new domains are added, they may have been inadvertently removed by us, or added to FediCheck after this incident.
2. CARIAD Updates
Our source (observed) server policy means that from time to time we may add or remove a server as it becomes eligible or ineligible to be an observed server, or an eligible server enables or disables public access to their denylist. CARIAD is intended to be a reflection of the blocks in place on the largest servers, and as monthly active user counts go up and down, servers may move in or out of eligibility.
A forthcoming update will remove one server, and add three, and will represent the blocks in place on the servers that collectively host 56% of all Mastodon accounts.
In total we track over 74,000 historical federating domains, and roughly 2,000 are represented in the data we see on the observed servers. No domain is collectively blocked by all our observed sources.
This action adds and removes some domains, based on the collective actions taken by the observed servers. This may be because the new mix of observed servers do not collectively block the domain, or they have removed inactive domains, or the observed servers are exhibiting more or less blocking activity.
To allow you time to decide if these changes reflect your needs, these updates will not be applied until February 17, 2025, at which time the live FediCheck service will be updated with the new database.
Please note, between the time of publication of this notice, and February 17, 2025, these domains may move up or down in threshold, as we periodically scan our observed sources. The list below represents the changes we would see if we enabled the update today.
You can sign in to FediCheck and click “unmanage this domain” to take control of any domain entries that will be removed – effectively keeping them on your server.
Will Be Removed:
- 5dollah.click (inactive or non-federating service)
- birdsite[.]tcjc[.]uk (inactive or non-federating service)
- boymoder[.]biz
- ghetti[.]monster (inactive or non-federating service)
- glindr[.]org (inactive or non-federating service)
- lolison[.]top (inactive or non-federating service)
- nazi[.]social (inactive or non-federating service)
- rot[.]gives (inactive or non-federating service)
- shrimpposter[.]club
- skippers-bin[.]com (inactive or non-federating service)
- sleepy[.]cafe (inactive or non-federating service)
- solagg[.]com (inactive or non-federating service)
- strelizia[.]net
- tastingtraffic[.]net
Please note, some inactive domains may also appear on the IFTAS DNI list, and therefore are not removed from FediCheck.
Will Be Added:
- cmm[.]fyi
- cryptodon[.]lol
- forestver[.]se
- groupsbelah[.]com
- kitsui[.]life
- kokuusa[.]club
- m[.]n1l[.]dev
- morale[.]ch
- puls[.]social
- usasa[.]ky
3. threads.net (Meta)
We are aware of growing community concerns around Meta’s threads.net domain, which is approaching the 51% threshold for inclusion on the CARIAD list. If more of our observed servers choose to block this domain, it will likely cross the 51% and possibly the 66% threshold in the coming weeks, which may then be reflected on your server.
To accommodate varying approaches, we are temporarily withholding the domain from the list until February 17, 2025. If you wish to remain connected to threads.net, please disable automatic updates for your server before this date by visiting cariad.fedicheck.iftas.org and disabling automatic push to your server.
As a reminder, all domains are reviewed before being approved for use by FediCheck.
Please note: FediCheck never overwrites your existing blocks. If you already suspend or limit threads.net, your entry will remain unchanged.
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We deeply apologise for any inconvenience caused by our error, and appreciate your understanding as we work to improve our processes and maintain your trust.
If you have any questions or require assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us or talk to us in the Forums (IFTAS Connect members only).