Proposal: allow follows to override modlists

[jeffb4]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Large automated modlists inevitably catch accounts that people who would otherwise use the modlist prefer to follow. Currently modlists are all-or-nothing, there is little composability. Stacking / composability is a stated goal of the Bluesky moderation systems.

Describe the solution you'd like

I would like Bluesky (at the AppView level?) to NOT perform modlist actions on an account being followed (mute or block). Optionally, I would like that account collision to surface to the user so they're aware (for cases where they might want to unfollow an account they followed in the past).

Describe alternatives you've considered

There is an allowlist proposal at #1978 . There's nothing wrong with the proposal, but it is more complicated from a UX perspective than "I meant to follow this account, show me their content, ignore the actions of a modlist I might not even control". I run some large modlists on https://bsky.app/profile/automated-lists.bsky.social and the majority of the chat content is along the lines of not even understanding what a modlist is. I truly believe creating an allowlist that is the exact same set as the follow list would be too much for many people.

Other thoughts

There is currently a problem of modlists existing for a certain purpose in their description ("Modlist of accounts who hate dogs") that later is maliciously used (all red-headed users are added to the "hates dogs" list). Because changes to modlists are not surfaced to subscribers, this attack can be very effective and very hard to detect and mitigate. Ignoring modlist additions that would stomp on an account's follow list helps mitigate the abuse, a bit.

[aeshna-cyanea]

related #1978. I would prefer the allowlist approach because it's more flexible

[symmetricalboy]

I can see the appeal for the flexibility that a separate allowlist provides, and that's a valid point. There might be some specific edge cases where a user wants to apply a moderation list to an account they also happen to follow.

However, from a user experience perspective, I strongly agree with the original proposal. For the vast majority of users, the act of following someone is a very clear and intentional declaration: "I want to see this person's content."

My main concern with a manual, separate allowlist is that it introduces extra steps and complexity that could be confusing, especially for less technical users. As @jeffb4 pointed out, many people are still getting familiar with what modlists even are. Requiring them to manage a separate allowlist—which for most people would likely just mirror their follow list—seems like it could create unnecessary friction.

While a separate list offers more granular control for power users, I wonder if that benefit for a few outweighs the simplicity and intuitive nature of the 'follows override modlists' approach for the broader user base. It seems that for most common scenarios, the original proposal strikes a better balance between powerful functionality and everyday ease of use.

[symmetricalboy]

Additionally, I do not know how this is done w/ GH Issues, but perhaps these two proposals should be one proposal with a discussion being held about which implementation is desirable? Both of the proposals are proposing to fix the same issue.

[temujin9]

Given the team's response, I have lost interest in advancing that allowlists proposal further, and have closed it. Hopefully, this one gets some attention soon.

[aeshna-cyanea]

well, it seems obvious your follows would just be an allowlist by default in the original proposal's version. Any extra ui complexity would only show up if the user goes looking for it, so not sure that's a real concern.

to be clear, i want allowlists instead of having a single override via follows specifically for this usecase:

• the user is on a modlist i use, but i disagree with them being mute worthy
• however i don't want to directly follow them (too prolific, or whatever reason)
• but i still want to see their more popular posts in my algorithmic feeds

idk how common that specific usecase is tho, might be worth asking around