@hpod16Hannah Grace

I think URL shorteners are (speaking as someone who professionally manages TLS intercept proxies):

1) a security risk - to your point - because they obfuscate the true destination. further, some URL shorteners, even today in 2026, do not use TLS - meaning network adversaries can trivially inject new behavior.

2) a privacy risk - because shorteners are almost always designed to track clicks to companies selling data likely in breach of GDPR. Usually the forwards include multiple domain changes meaning multiple third-parties are extracting tracking data to potentially thousands of data brokers. and again, some URL shorteners, even today in 2026, do not use TLS - meaning even ISPs can see the full URL, meaning more pathways to more data brokers.

3) unnecessary. Since, idk, 2010? social media companies like Twitter auto-shortening any link to a maximum size in a way that massively long links dont count towards max character limits.

4) something that should be "against the law" on the fediverse for the above 3 reasons, and is even worth soemthing blocking accounts for doing.

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