Someone asked how small instances could effectively moderate a community, when large instances with big budgets struggle with it. Here is my response.
Moderation is much easier at a human scale. When the community is small enough, moderators actually interact with the community and are part of the community. They understand the culture, the context, and the members better than any AI, algorithms, or employees thousands of miles or kilometers away could. A lot of misguided censorship comes from outsiders, who don't understand the community, coming in, taking comments out of context, and applying their own values onto a community they are not part of.
If you want to keep community moderation fair, then you must keep instances small, and keep them moderated by their own community.
If an entire community doesn't meet your standards, that is where users and administrators can block them.
You don't need a lot of money to moderate a community. You need people who are already part of the community who care enough to make it a safe space and are willing to take time to do so.
