xenmaster's free speech catalog

Category: Microblogging

Pleroma is a replacement for Twitter. However, I find it to be a far superior product because you have the power to basically host your own twitter and set your own rules based on the instance you are running. While Mastodon is very popular for this purpose, those seeking a leaner model for microblogging are encouraged to try Pleroma. It's so efficient that it can run on a Raspberry Pi and has a much smaller footprint for updates compared to Mastodon, which runs multiple dependencies that can be taxing for those not using a managed host.

Category: Video Hosting

PeerTube is basically Youtube but run on a bittorrent-like platform, which is P2P in nature. Like with Mastadon, you can host your own instance or join peertube.video and post your content there. I'll post any possible fully managed hosting options once I see any that are worth posting.

Category: Social Network

This is a replacement for Facebook. I like the interface better than Diaspora, which is the more popular social network replacement that is part of the activitypub family. I don't see any particularly popular hubs to join and/or managed hosting options, but aside from the more aggregated functionality you see in Facebook with things like messaging and marketplace and such, this is a good ad-free network to set up and/or join.

Category: Blogging Platform

This service basically is a minimalist version of Wordpress or Medium. Unlike those platforms, you can skip all the addon and clutter of the other sites or the expensive managed hosting options like Wordpress.com or Ghost or obnoxious paywalls and unfair content promotion like on Medium. While this site isn't a good option for fancy websites (see hubzilla below), bloggers who want to focus on content will find something to like here.

Managed hosting can be found at https://www.writefreely.host and the most popular hub that people can join is at https://write.as . (they run an onion service and allow you to post anonymously too!)

Category: Website Platform

If you are looking to build a fully-fledged website that can communicate with other ActivityPub sites, this is the best option for you! Hubzilla (formerly known as Redmatrix) is a modular webserver based operating system which includes technologies for publishing, social media, file sharing, photo sharing, chat and more (including the ability to develop custom modules). These services are accessed and connected across server and administrative boundaries through the communication protocol Zot which provides a high level of privacy and security customization and a nomadic identity for the users. A webserver running Hubzilla is called a "hub". The decentralized network consisting of the total of the hubs - "the grid" - federates with other platforms listed here.

You can find managed hosting for hubzilla servers at https://www.knthost.com and the functionality can be sampled at the https://start.hubzilla.org node.

Category: Discussion Board

Prismo is the ActivityPub version of Reddit. It's still in it's beginning stages and not as mature as services like Voat, Steemit, SaidIt or Tilde (see below) but shows promise!

Category: Audio Hosting

Funkwhale is basically a soundcloud service that can be self-hosted. Unlike services like Ampache, though, Funkwhale can be federated with the other services listed here. It's not super popular yet either, but it's getting there.

https://www.open.audio is the most popular hub to join - no managed hosts to be found (yet)

Category: Image Sharing

PixelFed is basically a ActivityPub self-hosted version of Instagram, and for a program still in development, it looks fantastic. As with all the other services, you can start up your own instance, share your pictures with close family and friends, and federate with other hubs without having to worry about the creepy aspects of Facebook being all up in your business, running ads, or using their facial recognition on your personal images. They also allow NSFW content, depending on the hubs, as opposed to Instagram, which bans it completely.

The most popular hub to join, pixelfed.social, is currently closed for registrations, but other hubs are listed on https://the-federation.info/pixelfed . Managed hosting for pixelfed hubs can be secured at https://app.spacebear.ee for a nominal fee.

NOTE: This platform is currently banning all NSFW content. While it definitely is a good host when it comes to permitting political speech of all stripes, this technically means it isn't truly a free-speech platform the way the other options are. I may be removing entirely in the near future

Category: Microblogging

Gab is probably, on its face, the most famous free-speech platforms out there. The creator, Andrew Torba, created the service after he saw that Twitter was moving in a direction that censored people that the company Twitter didn't particularly agree with and also censoring people to protect their brand from advertiser backlash.

Having said that, the major draw back is their reputation as a retreat for some less-savory characters that have been banned from Twitter for legitimately inappropriate behavior, including harassment of other users and bigoted content, primarily centered around anti-semitism. As a result, the stability of the platform has been threatened in the past, like with their website domain being cancelled, their payment services being revoked, their azure infrastructure being threatened, and their apps being removed from the AppStore and Google Play, and some people might be turned off by the reputation and the presence of bad actors on the platform. I would say proceed at your own risk when using this service.

Edited: 7/8/2019: Gab is now a heavily customized fork of the Mastodon software noted above. This means that it is open source and accessible by apps like Fedilab and Tusky Uncensored. Some apps have chosen to block the Gab Social instance but many still work. Similarly, many large Mastodon hubs like Mastodon.social and others have chosen to block the Gab Social instance as well to prevent users from reaching the content their administrators find objectionable or (in the case of mastodon.social) illegal in their communities.

Category: Social Network

Minds is a platform created in response to the blatant surveillance and shady dealings of Facebook that was being done in the light of the PRISM / NSA scandal. The founder Bill Ottoman is a proud free-speech and anti-censorship advocate who also opposes the overreach of government surveillance using social media platforms.

Functionally, the platform is similar to Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube all rolled up into one where creators can post their own content and share it publically or privately. There's no conventional advertising on this platform. Lately Minds has instituted its own cryptocurrency platform called Wire for creators to monetize their content. Given the dubious nature of such things (I doubt the currency is actually worth anything outside of the platform), using other means of securing sponsorship is recommended for creators looking to monetize their content.

They also have end-to-end encryption for their messaging, but its efficacy has been called into doubt in the past in github comments that have never been addressed (or at least the addressing of these has never been made public). Their mobile app also has very low reviews and they recently instituted a controversial moderation policy that not only involves around removing incorrectly flagged content, but also relies in part on a jury of users to determine which direction appeals go.

Overall, it's probably one of the better platforms. There have been some refugees from Youtube and Facebook bans that have happened recently, but they aren't as bad as what I've seen on other platforms (most are politically incorrect conservatives as opposed to legitimately offensive people who were harassing other users).

Category: Social Network

MeWe is probably one of my favourite platforms. Like Minds, it is essentially a replacement for Facebook, except it focuses a lot on private groups. Instead of having public posts like on Facebook, MeWe is dedicated to setting up close circles of friends and family for sharing content. It's similar to the benefits of Mastodon, but with more functionality, it's not free and opensource, and is entirely managed by a third party. Their app has seen an explosion in popularity ever since the shutdown of Google+, which is good because it means that their refugees are not coming from other places as a result of bans.

There are no ads or datamining on MeWe - their creators are committed to making money based on selling custom emojis and their MeWePro plans, which including awesome features like end-to-end encrypted chats (although these can't be verified since not open source) and extra storage space. It also comes with desktop apps and a custom mobile camera as well. The fact that this site is also supported by Tim Berners-Lee, one of the main guys who invented the world wide web, adds a lot of credibility to this site!

NOTE: This platform bans all NSFW content. While it definitely is a good host when it comes to permitting political speech of all stripes, this technically means it isn't truly a free-speech platform the way the other options are. I may be removing entirely in the near future

Category: Video Hosting

Bitchute operates similarly to PeerTube in that it uses torrenting technology to supported hosted videos. Unlike PeerTube, the system is centrally managed and closed-source.

Bitchute is essentially similar to Gab in that it is a platform that primarily attracts those who have been banished from YouTube. Like Gab, it's also had its infrastructure threatened as a result of organizations like Paypal refusing to do any kind of work with them as a result of the deplatformed content creators that operate there. Similarly, it's a decent platform that has attracted a rather bad reputation as a result. As long as you can get over the fact that the platform is shared by people you may not agree with, it's a fine alternative to YouTube that doesn't ban or demonetize people who don't break their rules simply due to advertiser pressure, twitter mob outrage, or the company's political preferences.

Category: Video Hosting

Similar to BitChute, except that the platform is pretty young, has mostly amateur creators, and doesn't seem inundated with YouTube ban refugees. It's a nice place, if not stagnant, so not the ideal solution for people looking for a good video host. The creators and maintainers of this project pledge that they "believe in an equal chance to get seen regardless if you're a liberal, republican, christian, atheist, muslim or jew," which is a welcome message from a content hosting platform compared to alternatives. No words on the extent to which advertising or moderation occurs here, but the absence of extremist content makes me think they have a way of ensuring that their platform isn't completely swamped with racism or bigotry.

Category: Discussion Board

Tildes is another alternative to Reddit. Their FAQ states that their platform will be different from sites that "collect our personal data and fail to protect it; amplify outrage and encourage mob harassment; spread false information and radicalize viewpoints; and allow racism and hate speech to propagate." The solutions they propose include the following:

• no-profit, no-investors
• no advertising, user-supported
• open, honest, open-source
• minimal user tracking, better privacy
• high quality content, discussions
• limited tolerance, especially for assholes

The owner of the site has said the following about speech: "I'm never going to refer to the site as a 'safe space' or ban anyone just for occasionally acting like a jerk in an argument—I'd probably have to ban myself fairly quickly. However, it will also never be described as anything like 'an absolute free speech site'." Folks looking for a moderated community that isn't under pressure from outrage mobs, advertisers, or the company's political preferences can probably find a welcome place here.

Category: Social Network

This platform is similar to MeWe in that they prioritise privacy and security (using MFA security and end-to-end encryption for chats) to support user interaction and socialization. It is currently free, but has given hints that to finance its revenue model that it will require paid memberships for meaningful interaction on the platform. They also support data portability and permanent deletion of data for folks who choose to do so. There is no advertising on the platform, nor any kind of algorithmic manipulation of news feeds or content. They do have content moderation, but primarily for illegal content, including racist, homophobic, and sexist content that can be deemed illegal discrimination in Sweden where the system operates.

Category: News Platform

Parler is a series of apps and websites that allow users to visit online news platforms and engage in debate and commentary independent of those platforms. This process reduces the risk of having any one particular news platform moderate out unwelcome opinions or commentary and slant the discussion to remove unconventional thought or unpopular opinions.

I haven't used this platform myself, so I can't speak to the community it contains. This app is similar to Dissenter, but may be missing the content more objectionable to most that comes with being associated with the Gab platform.

Category: Email Service Provider

Email is the original federated service, however platforms like Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft have been responsible for scanning emails for content, spamming users with advertisements, and has been a target for passive mass surveillance. As a result, a good option would be one that encrypts the users communication to avoid all three of these issues. Protonmail isn't the only player in town (Tutanota is also excellent and comes with a free mobile app) but Protonmail is among the best. ProtonVPN, from the same business, is an additional step to help avoid surveilance.

Category: Discussion Board

This is a reddit clone also built on top of the STEEM cryptocurrency. Like most platforms running on crypto, the content seems overwhelminly geared towards cryptocurrency and individual posts host a lot of D.tube videos since both share a common platform.

Category: Video Hosting

This is another video sharing platform, but this platform is based on the STEEM cryptocurrency. As a result, it tends to be fairly unreliable and subreddits dedicated to this software seem to be highly focused on the lack of functionality and multiple errors on this platform. Having said that, it also seems to have a lack of ban refugees so a good place to find content that is different from independent creators.

Category: Webhosting

Bahnhof is run out of Sweden which has very strong press freedom laws and has hosted Wikileaks and The Pirate Bay in the past, which demonstrates their committment to press freedom and protecting controversial content. They have also taken a strong stance against passive government surveilance, including refusing to log website activity and offering free VPN services.

Category: Webhosting

Orange Website is based in Iceland. The owner has openly dedicated to support freedom of speech, was against the SOPA PIPA legislation and generally ignores any complaints that do not violate the terms of service (mostly related to spamming and hosting illegal content) or Icelandic law (Pornography is not permitted to be hosted here as a result).

The site also allows for the use of multi-factor authentication and allows for anonymous hosting and payment with Bitcoin and Monero.

Category: Webhosting

DataCell is a Icelandic/Swiss hosting provider that supported Wikileaks in the past. As a result, they had their payment gateway shut down, but ended up fighting them in court and two years later, had access to process payments again. Proof that deplatforming can be fought and won.

Category: Domain Registrar (sort of)

Njal.la is a proxy for domain registration. Basically, the company registers a domain on your behalf and you pay using either traditional payment methods or bitcoin if you wish to register anonymously. Njal.la can be used with TOR as well, making it effectively able to register domains without it being traced back to the registrar. Good plan for keeping one's privacy intact!

Category: Domain Registrar

In 2018, Epik made big news by agreeing to take on the Gab domain once their previous registrar, GoDaddy, kicked them off their platform. Not only did Epik do this, but their upper management wrote a lengthy blog post explaining the reason for their decision.

Basically stated, they claim that "there are many kinds of online content that some people find objectionable. When it comes to publishing content, online or offline, there is an interplay between free will and personal responsibility. Specific to Gab, the decision to not only tolerate but to welcome competing views, does come with a responsibility to take action when free will is exhibited without personal responsibility ... In the case of Gab.com, there is a duty to monitor and lightly curate, keeping content within the bounds of the law."

If Epik was willing to stick their neck out for content that most find objectionable, it is reasonable to assume they will do the same for you for far less. It also helps that their domain process are some of the lowest priced in the business!

Category: DDoS Protection

When the anti-semitic site Daily Stormer lost their DDoS protection from Cloudflare based on an arbitrary decision made by Cloudflare, BitMitigate decided to take up the slack and keep them online, despite enormous pressure from every major tech company to avoid doing so. I definitely do not approve of this type of content, but BitMitigate decided to step in when the rich and powerful decided to kick a website off the internet because they disagreed with its content, especially after proclaiming they wouldn't do this.

If they could do it once, there is a good chance that these same actors could fall prey to pressure to start doing the same to sites that start broadcasting politically incorrect or socially unconventional content. A site that has shown the courage to fight back against this kind of thing for such a controversial site can probably be counted on to do the same for less offensive sites, including yours, perhaps.

BitMitigate was acquired in 2018 by Epik Domains (see above) and now offer their services in a package deal.

Category: Comment Board (browser add-on)

Dissenter is a solution to being banned from the comments section of a website or for people who are looking to escape comment moderation since it isn't enforced here. Dissenter effectively is a comments platform that travels with you from site to site and is under the control of a separate independent platform. Dissenter was created by the folks at Gab to circumvent users who are banned from news commenting sites. Unfortunately, similar to Gab itself, the platform overwhelmingly host to a group of people who traffic in opinions and beliefs that most in polite society would find to be distasteful. I add it here because I think the possibility of having a similar platform that is responsibly moderated would remove the negative affects associated with this particular solution.

Note also that this add-on is only available at the corresponding Dissenter Browser, which is a fork of Brave, since Chrome and Mozilla both banned the add-on from their platforms, again, mostly because they object to its community, rather than for violating any of their terms of service.

Category: Subscription-Based Fundraising

SubscribeStar is an alternative replacement for Patreon and is probably one of the best options available for people who are tired of Patreon's political motivation for deplatforming users or their inability to secure the payment information of Patrons.

SubscribeStar does have a policy that doesn't allow people to use their platform who "harass, abuse, insult, harm, defame, slander, disparage, intimidate, or discriminate based on gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, race, age, national origin, or disability," which makes it an ideal platform for users who have been banished from Patreon for political reasons but still are not associated with hateful content or harassing behaviour. There is also a pretty strict onboarding process done to ensure that people who sign on to the platform meet with specific expectations and quality requirements. The platform also resolves it can terminate accounts in response to the aforementioned behaviours.

This type of policy definitely helps remove bad actors, but for folks who feel these restrictions are too much are recommended to try Patreos below.

Category: Crowdfunding

Liberapay is a donations platform similar to GoFundMe or Patreon that can also be self-hosted. It has some limitations (it doesn't really allow perks the way Kickstarter or Patreon do) and does allow the content creators to avoid processing and hosting fees.

Category: AppStore

There aren't a whole lot of solutions for people who are getting banned from the AppStore for not being in-line with Apple's walled garden, but for folks building Android Apps to their services and sites, there is an easy alternative to the App Store - F-Droid.

Note that apps featured here have to be free and open source only. Aptoide is a good alternative for people seeking to release apps that are closed-source, but it's a questionable marketplace that hosts many potentially dangerous apps.

Category: FileSharing

Lufi is a great way to distribute files in a fully encrypted manner. It's a central self-hosted server that allows files to be encrypted end-2-end from the storage to delivery so that no one running the server can examine any files being hosted there.

Category: eCommerce Marketplace

OpenBazaar is an alternative to eBay or Amazon that can be used fully peer-2-peer for people to list what they've got to sell and to browse what they want to buy. A good option for people selling electronic assets, like music, videos, eBooks and so forth without relying on a traditional ecommerce platform. Also allows users to pay using cryptocurrencies.

Category: Payment Processor

If you want to forgo relying on any payment platform, including those that process bitcoin payments, you can roll your own server that accepts BTC using BTCPay Server. It requires set up, but well worth it for the peace of mind of avoiding the pitfalls of relying on third parties.

Category: Group Chat

Mumble and the server component Murmur both work as an alternative to Discord in that they allow encrypted end-2-end team speak that ensures the privacy of the individuals communicating and that the people who set up the platform can avoid being shut down by a third party service provider.

Category: Subscription-Based Fundraising

Cloud Patron is a good option for crowdsourcing content with a service provider that is self-hosted. The only downside is that the payment processing is done almost exclusively through Stripe, who are notorious for deplatforming groups that don't agree to their company's values.

Category: Discussion Board

For people not willing to use the above mentioned Reddit clones, you can roll your own using the Voat platform. This is different from the Voat.Co, which is the main site and generally tends to host refugees from legitimate reddit bans.

Category: Crowdfunding

Selfstarter was created by a creator that ran afoul of the Kickstarter requirement prohibiting products that are in the home improvement category. This software is free open source and can be downloaded, reconfigured, and used to support any project related to independent crowdsourced fundraising. It currently is set up to work with Amazon Payments, but can potentially be configured to work with other processors, like Stripe and WePay. Currently it doesn't look like it accepts cryptocurrency, but that could change so stay tuned!

Category: Classified Posting

This is a drop-in replacement for something like Backpage or Craigslist for those who are reeling from the recent modifications to those sites and the ever more restrictive content guidelines on these platforms. Similar to Peerhub, it's powered by the Ethereum blockchain and allows users to post their own advertisements without having to worry about them being censored or blocked.

Category: Secure Messenger

Signal is the most reliable and best end-2-end encrypted application out on the market. It has both a desktop component made through Electron and native mobile apps on both the AppStore and on GooglePlay.

Many messengers now are logging content and throttling / blocking service, such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. On Signal, it would be impossible because even though the service is centralized, the server never knows what your content looks like. The only major downside is that it is not built for anonymity and requires a phone number to operate - including the desktop component.