So there would be no content moderation of any kind?
That could get rather dicey, no?
The communities will decide their moderation policies and have tools to effect them.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Synereo/comments/2jtzyd/first_questions_that_come_to_mind/"An excellent question, and one that we've put a lot of thought into.
On one hand, we want to give people the maximum amount of freedom. The knowledge that their ability to express themselves is safeguarded, and that no one can take it away from them under any pretense - political, religious, traditional, etc - is priceless. It gives one the type of space that leads to expression and creativity, that is conducive to the organic formation of communities, and that, in many ways, is such that is hard to find outside of the Internet.
There are, of course, types of content that we do not expect people to condone and accept casually in the name of expression. Harmful and violent behavior, sexual crimes, threats, and so on. However, since the system is decentralized, there is no central authority to report these things to and who may take action.
This is where we have a few ideas in mind, and we would definitely like to engage our growing community in the discussion about them.
One of the ideas that we've been playing with so far involves a system like the League of Legends Tribunal -
http://euw.leagueoflegends.com/tribunal/en/faq/ - one where each user may report content he sees on the net, and when enough reports are submitted, the content gets escalated to a tribunal. The tribunal comprises peers opting-in to participate in the process of keeping Synereo free of what they think is conduct unbecoming of a user in it.
To make sure this system is not abused, the selected peers would have to be from eclectic backgrounds, communities, interest groups, and any other meaningful differentiators we can gather to establish a consensus that goes beyond that of a specific belief group or cultural eccentricity. i.e. we would not like you to be punished for irreverent behavior or for making fun of something that someone else might find holy, but if you pose violent threats or publish child porn, you are going to get probated or even banned.
When three fourths of the tribunal thinks you had done wrong but the rest of them are OK with what you said, it probably means you managed to touch a sensitive spot or were offensive in your conduct - but that's no reason to take away your right to participate in Synereo. When 95% or more of your peers think you're a menace that should not be part of a community or even the entire network, you probably deserve to cool off for a while or even get your participation privileges revoked completely.
(These numbers are subject to change, of course - but you get the concept.)
Another idea that is growing on us is that of a Burning Man-esque, decentralized, consensually elected, ad-hoc police force. People with influence in their Synereos who may be elected - for short terms - to wield a little bit of extra power within their communities, representing their collective will.
There is always a balance to strike between freedom and control, between creating the best and widest space available for expression and making sure no one can be harmed, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to bring this balance to the sweetest spot we are able to find with Synereo."
