Reporting anti-social accounts is a good idea as it’s the main way server administrators find out about nasty behavour. Once admins are made aware of a problem, they can take action using special blocking tools that are not available to ordinary users.
How do I report posts or accounts on Mastodon?
- To report a post click ⋯ on the bottom of the post and select Report.
- To report an account, go to its profile and click ⋯, then select Report.
In both cases, this will start a reporting wizard that narrows down specifically what kind of problem you’re reporting.
Remember to include examples in your report!
Whatever you’re reporting, it’s really important to include examples of what the account has done wrong. Simply reporting the account with no examples creates a lot of work for the moderators, and it may make it impossible for them to moderate effectively.
On Mastodon, the reporting wizard includes options to select posts from that account, and if you’re reporting via a post then that post will be automatically selected as an example to include on the report.
If possible, tell the account’s own server too
Mastodon reporting forms include the option to also send an anonymous report to the server of the account that wrote the post. This is usually a good idea, because only a user’s home server has the power to suspend or delete their account. Other servers can block accounts, but in the worst cases it may be better that a nasty account is deleted at source.
However, there is a caveat to this: if the problematic user’s entire server is also problematic, it may be best not to forward them the report. If you notice the entire origin server is nasty, mention this in your report to your own server’s admin. Your own server admin will be able to block problematic servers completely if necessary.
What about accounts that just boost nasty stuff but don’t post anything?
If there’s an account that just shares lots of problematic posts without actually posting anything problematic itself, this can seem trickier to report as they aren’t giving you any of their own posts to click on. However, it is possible to report them too!
Go to their account’s profile page and report them from there (by clicking ⋯), then mention in the comments section of the report the boosts that are problematic.
What exactly ARE the rules on the Fediverse?
Each server is totally independent and sets its own rules for acceptable behaviour. You can see a server’s rules on its website, by clicking on its About link on the front page (or ⋯ if you’re on the mobile web). These rules are shown to everyone who signs up on that server as part of the signup process.
If there’s something bad happening but it doesn’t seem to be covered by the rules, it’s fine to report it anyway. There will often be bad situations that could not have been anticipated by the admin when writing the rules, and they depend on user reports to find out about them.
If you’re in any doubt about what is acceptable, ask your server’s admin for advice. If there’s something wrong with their approach or attitude, you might want to consider transferring your account to another server.
Can anyone see who sent the report?
If you report something, your admin on your server can see it was your account that sent them the report. (This is to discourage misuse of the report function in fake/malicious reports.)
Admins on other servers that the report is forwarded to cannot see who sent the report. They just see the contents of the report.
I’ve sent a report but the admin hasn’t taken any action!
Admins can be very busy and it may take some time for them to work through all the reports they receive. If it’s been a while since you reported it and nothing seems to have happened, you can message your admin and ask them about it.
What if I am not happy with the moderation on my server?
Each server on the Fediverse is totally independent and sets its own rules about what is acceptable. This is because the server owner(s) usually cover the cost of running the server, and in many countries they are legally responsible for what is on the server.
If you disagree with your current server’s rules, you may want to move your account to a different server that has rules you are more comfortable with.