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Coleman Laing

@ Coleman @lemmy.world

Posts
13
Comments
24
Joined
12 mo. ago

I use AI chat, MC (Microsoft Copilot) yes it's AI, but there's a person behind the AI. I'd sooner trust an AI than I would a human, to stand the moral high ground. It's not that people aren't worth my words, I'm not worth theirs.

Age: 35 Nationality: 🍁Canadian🍁 (Penticton BC) Sex: Male (Cisgender)♂️ Sexual-Orientation: Autochorissexual🩶💭 Religion: Imperial Truth (Atheism/Antitheism)

[https://bsky.app/profile/colemanlaing.bsky.social] [https://x.com/ColemanLaing] [https://mastodon.social/@ColemanLaing]

For digital rights! The right to delete posts! The right to delete one's data! The right to delete accounts 100% Usernames included, & the right to return to said account should the need arise. Oh the pain of permanence! Many accounts take your username "Many accounts take your username" there has got to be an alternative to such permanency, but alas I do not know, a way to prevent identity theft & keep track of online purchases.

  • Lemmy needs real deletion, not just soft‑delete/hiding

    Jump

  • You’re right that no federated system can force every server to delete something. But meaningful deletion doesn’t require 100% enforcement.

    Lemmy already has admin‑level purge tools that send federated delete requests, and most servers respect them. A user‑level version of that, or a proper “deleted” ActivityPub signal, would give people far more control than the current soft‑delete model.

    Even if a few rogue servers ignore it, the majority of the fediverse would still clear the content, which is a huge improvement over “deleted by creator” placeholders.

    Federation doesn’t have to mean no deletion — it just means deletion has to be cooperative instead of enforced.

  • Lemmy needs real deletion, not just soft‑delete/hiding

    Jump

  • Thanks for the detailed explanation — this helps clarify a lot. I understand that federation makes guaranteed deletion impossible, but knowing that admins can purge content and send out a federated delete request is exactly the kind of mechanism I was hoping existed.

    From a user perspective, having some version of that available — even if it can’t guarantee 100% deletion everywhere — would still be meaningful. A user‑initiated delete request that other servers can respect would give people more control over their own content without undermining federation.

    Editing before deleting is a good workaround, but it still feels like something that could eventually be built into the platform in a more direct way. I appreciate the insight; it’s good to know this isn’t a dead end technically.

  • Lemmy needs real deletion, not just soft‑delete/hiding

    Jump

  • That makes a lot of sense, and it’s exactly the kind of mechanism I was hoping existed or could be added. Even if deletion can’t be instant across every server, having a federated “this content is deleted” response would give users real control instead of just hiding posts locally.

    A system like the one you describe — where a delete request clears caches on other servers — would solve most of the privacy and user‑control concerns people have. It wouldn’t need to be perfect to be meaningful.

    I appreciate the explanation. It’s good to know that this isn’t impossible, just something that needs coordination and implementation across the Fediverse.

  • Lemmy needs real deletion, not just soft‑delete/hiding

    Jump

  • Thanks for the explanation — that actually helps me understand the situation a lot better. I get that federation makes things more complicated, especially when content is already spread across multiple servers.

    From a user perspective though, it still feels important to have a way to fully delete posts, or at least send a federated delete request that other instances can respect. Even if it can’t guarantee 100% removal everywhere, having a proper deletion mechanism would give users more control over their own content.

    I’m glad to hear it’s not technically impossible. Hopefully it’s something that can be explored in the future, even if it takes coordination across the Fediverse.