1---
 2template:
 3slug: free-sw-censor
 4title: Free software should not censor
 5subtitle: If you write free software, don't deny freedom zero
 6date: 2021-04-07
 7---
 8
 9Any software is free, if it grants the users the four essential
10freedoms:
11
12- **freedom 0**: The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any
13  purpose.
14- **freedom 1**: The freedom to study how the program works, and change
15  it so it does your computing as you wish 
16- **freedom 2**: The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help
17  others.
18- **freedom 3**: The freedom to distribute copies of your modified
19  versions to others.
20
21Denying any one of these freedoms makes your software nonfree. As it
22happens, some free software project maintainers think it's OK to impose
23their political / ideological stances on who can use their software, and
24for what purpose it can be used. They are violating the zeroth freedom
25to advance their political agendas. Here are a couple of examples.
26
27## case one: Tusky
28
29Tusky is a free software (GPL 3.0) Android client for the fediverse --
30thematically, Mastodon. They [Rick Roll users who try to connect to
31instances](https://github.com/tuskyapp/Tusky/pull/1303) they disagree
32with. You don't get to decide for your users! And the irony here is its
33a client for a supposedly censorship-resistant network. This is in
34violation of freedom zero.
35
36Funnily enough, Tusky recently got [removed from the Play
37Store](https://chaos.social/@ConnyDuck/105904002285019275) for serving
38"objectionable content".
39
40> They don't seem to understand that one can view any content with Tusky
41> and that it is not possible for the app developers to check any of it.
42> -- https://chaos.social/@ConnyDuck/105904015276457450
43
44A blatant lie! Doesn't feel good when someone else decides things for
45you, now, does it?
46
47## case two: Lemmy
48
49Also a fediverse application -- a federated Reddit clone (AGPL 3.0).
50They have a [hardcoded slur
51filter](https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/622) that they refuse
52to remove, or at the very least, make configurable. This is just plain
53bad engineering for the sake of politics.
54
55Both of these software are released under free software licenses, and
56are clearly nonfree. Stop doing this -- it benefits nobody. You probably
57feel like you're "making a change", but guess what: you're not. It is
58mere virtue signalling. Don't enforce your political agendas on your
59users.
60
61Censorship is bad for everyone, and it usually never ends well.  There
62is no "correct" way to censor -- so don't even try! If you don't want
63your software to be "misused", release it under a license that is
64capable of enforcing that.[^1]
65
66[^1]: Protip: you can't. Ethical source licenses exist, but they're practically dead in the water.