IFTAS 2.0 – Rescoping and Refocusing

Since its inception, IFTAS has worked to support volunteer moderators, administrators, and community managers across decentralised social media platforms, equipping them with the tools and guidance needed to foster safe, inclusive spaces.​

While we haven’t been able to raise the funds needed to accomplish all our goals, we’ve been humbled to receive over $5,000 in additional support from our community since January, and this ensures there are plenty of activities we can continue to support.

The Story So Far

Over the past two years, IFTAS has achieved several significant milestones:​

• Community Building – We established the IFTAS Connect community portal, bringing together over 200 moderators and administrators to share best practices, resources, and support.
• Guidance and Resources – In collaboration with community moderators and industry experts, we developed comprehensive guidance materials, such as the DSA Guide for Decentralised Services and the Moderator Library to assist communities in navigating federated content and behaviour.
• Moderation Tools – We launched services like FediCheck, a web service that allows service providers to review and subscribe to external sources for automated domain blocking. We also built and piloted a CSAM detection service that demonstrated a novel way to approach this issue for administrators seeking to reduce this harm.
• Advocacy and Support – IFTAS has been a vocal advocate for decentralised communities, participating in broader trust and safety discussions and providing direct support to moderators facing challenges.

Given financial constraints, IFTAS is refocusing on its most impactful initiatives to ensure sustainable support.​

Services Scheduled for Shutdown

As part of our re-scoping, we are discontinuing services that are unsustainable or lack sufficient support. These include the Content Classification Service, FediCheck (now available for download), Tall Poppy Personal Digital Safety Services, Bluesky Labeller, and the Moderator Mastodon Sandbox. Most of our planned activities such as OSA Guidance and legal support are no longer being worked on. 

We sincerely thank all users, contributors, and supporters of these services. Your efforts have been invaluable in promoting trust and safety across the open social web.

Continuing Initiatives

Despite these changes, IFTAS remains committed to several core initiatives that align with our mission to build and sustain trust and safety at scale in the Fediverse.​

• IFTAS Connect – We will continue to support the public library and moderator connection activities of IFTAS Connect. This community platform serves as a vital resource for moderators and administrators, offering access to a wealth of information, best practices, and a supportive community of peers.
• Social Web Domain Observatory – The CARIAD project is what informed our FediCheck service, and it aggregates data on the most blocked domains within the Fediverse, providing valuable insights to help service providers manage federation and enhance the safety of their communities. CARIAD will be converted to a domain observatory. We will provide updates on the observatory’s availability as development progresses.

  

• Moderator Handbook – Our community has authored a detailed handbook for moderators, and we are working to bring this to the community as soon as possible.
• SW-ISAC – Our information sharing activities will remain, and we will issue alerts as and when appropriate, as well as keeping the IFTAS DNI list up to date. Follow https://mastodon.iftas.org/@sw_isac for the relevant alerts and notices.
• Moderator Needs Assessment – We plan to continue our annual survey of moderators and admins.

By focusing on these core activities, IFTAS will continue its support for decentralised communities, ensuring that moderators and administrators have the resources they need to maintain safe and inclusive environments.​

Thank you to everyone who has advised, participated, convened, or in any way supported trust and safety on the social web – you are what makes all of this possible, and we are excited to continue finding ways to support the Fediverse and everything it stands for.