The maker of PixelFed, a fediverse-native alternative to Instagram, has taken to Mastodon to argue, “The sooner we can put politics aside, and work to build a real alternative to corporate silos aka social media, the better.”

Today, I finally unfollowed both him and his project, in the process discovering that he not only didn’t take to heart the public critique of that statement, he just doubled-down on it.

I don’t care who joins the fediverse. I’m focused on making the best Instagram alternative for everyone.

It’s in our best interest to put politics aside and work together to build a real alternative to corporate social media while treating each other with respect.

Here’s the thing: You should care about who joins the fediverse, because (to pick a dramatic example) there’s a difference, say, between posting that nazis should fuck off and die and posting the same thing about 14-year-old brown-skinned migrants. Technically—or should I say superficially–it’s the same speech, but it’s a necessary political decision how you treat each use.

The position that we should “put politics aside” itself is a political decision, and the baffling thing here is it’s literally the same position of the “corporate social media” to which Sup claims to be building an alternative.