Is it okay to beg for money on Mastodon?
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Is it okay to beg for money on Mastodon?
Every week I see accounts asking for money, often tagging me or others directly.
I support recognized aid organisations, but these direct requests make me concerned, because as a Mastodon user I have no way of verifying if the requests are legitimate, or some nefarious person is pretending to be a person in need.
So my question is, should Mastodon servers have a policy about begging, and if so, what should the policy be?
@randahl@mastodon.social I block, but don't report.
It's impossible to know which, if any, are genuine. -
@aral @randahl Also, the other main demographic I see appealing for mutual aid are trans and/or neurodivergent and/or cronically ill people who are either actively marginalized where they live & therefore cut off from "regular" aid sources, or have fallen through some sort of crack, also cutting them off from other, more readily available forms of support.
In many such cases, just asking for aid requires more courage than you or I will ever know.
Like Aral says, context matters.
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Is it okay to beg for money on Mastodon?
Every week I see accounts asking for money, often tagging me or others directly.
I support recognized aid organisations, but these direct requests make me concerned, because as a Mastodon user I have no way of verifying if the requests are legitimate, or some nefarious person is pretending to be a person in need.
So my question is, should Mastodon servers have a policy about begging, and if so, what should the policy be?
@randahl hey Randahl - I try to support a wide range of requests from all over to the extent I can manage it. If some of the folks asking aren’t what they say - well - it’s cost me a few quid and that’s on them not me. The alternative is I harden up and shut myself off from the desperate.
That’s on me.
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@krig @jwcph @aral @randahl
If you can't or don't want to give anybody any money, that's fine. Just don't make it harder for these people to exist by chasing them off the Fediverse.If you don't want to be tagged and the account isn't an obvious scam, you can always ask them politely to stop tagging you or mute/block.
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@randahl Hey Randahl,
It’s 2026, not Dickensian England; we call it mutual aid, not begging.
If we’re talking about Gazans, they are currently facing genocide at the hands of Israel with the full support of countries like the USA, Germany, and the UK and the complicity of almost the entirety of the so-called civilised West. International organisations like the UN are deliberately being prevented from functioning by Israel and US.
If you want a list of people we’ve verified via video calls that you can help during this ongoing genocide by settler colonialists, please see:
https://gaza-verified.org/donate/
I would strongly urge you to take the context into consideration. Ask yourself what you would do if you couldn’t feed your family, if you couldn’t afford to treat your sick children, if the institutions that were supposed to be helping were shackled, and if you were actively being hounded off of every other online space by corporations complicit in the genocide being perpetrated against you.
If people are being forced to ask for help, it’s not their failing but the failing of the system that is forcing them to do so.
@aral
Dear Mr. BalkanThank you for reminding me that we should take an interest in the context of others.
And thank you for informing me there is a genocide in Gaza. As the producer of the film “Genocide in Gaza”, this is a profound surprise to me.
And especially thank you for informing me that it is 2026 — something someone of lesser cognitive ability than yourself could easily overlook.
I agree that an unprejudiced approach to global dialogue is of the utmost importance.
1/2
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@aral
Dear Mr. BalkanThank you for reminding me that we should take an interest in the context of others.
And thank you for informing me there is a genocide in Gaza. As the producer of the film “Genocide in Gaza”, this is a profound surprise to me.
And especially thank you for informing me that it is 2026 — something someone of lesser cognitive ability than yourself could easily overlook.
I agree that an unprejudiced approach to global dialogue is of the utmost importance.
1/2
@aral
Since we agree that context is important, allow me to share a bit about my context.As a political commentator, it is important for me to be precise; and in my context, terms like “begging” or “panhandling” are very precise legal terms which define a specific action that is illegal in some jurisdictions, while legal in others.
I respect that in your context, this term is not preferred because it may not express the empathy we both desire, but now you know my motivation for using it.
2/2 -
@randahl These accounts are practically all on "mastodon.social" and this monster instance don't have any functioning moderation, so reporting them will not help. The only option is to block them.
@hiker I hear that a lot. But from my experience, account reports are handled quite effectively on mastodon.social.
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@hiker I hear that a lot. But from my experience, account reports are handled quite effectively on mastodon.social.
@randahl That is strange. -
@randahl the Fediverse’s #MutualAid network is one of the strongest ones I have ever seen, and it is something to be proud about, not concerned about. remember that not everyone is a (probably quite rich) political journalist like you. there are programs like @aral’s Gaza Verified to ensure the people asking for this stuff are reputable. how about you sit this one out, my guy.
@GroupNebula563 most of the requests I get are from African countries.
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@randahl That is strange.
@hiker maybe reports from a user of the server are prioritized over reports from users of other servers? I am just speculating, but that could be an explanation as to why you and I have very different experiences.
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@hiker maybe reports from a user of the server are prioritized over reports from users of other servers? I am just speculating, but that could be an explanation as to why you and I have very different experiences.
@randahl Oh, messages from other servers are ignored – even if you are the admin of an instance. That would be even stranger. -
Is it okay to beg for money on Mastodon?
Every week I see accounts asking for money, often tagging me or others directly.
I support recognized aid organisations, but these direct requests make me concerned, because as a Mastodon user I have no way of verifying if the requests are legitimate, or some nefarious person is pretending to be a person in need.
So my question is, should Mastodon servers have a policy about begging, and if so, what should the policy be?
@randahl I'd like to weigh in on this because I have given it a little thought, run a (small) Mastodon server, and have a policy in place on this topic.
We draw the line at @'ing people or interrupting otherwise unrelated discussions. Mutual aid posts are allowed (even encouraged) as long as that line is not crossed.
Accounts breaking that policy on our instance will find themselves limited.
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@randahl I'd like to weigh in on this because I have given it a little thought, run a (small) Mastodon server, and have a policy in place on this topic.
We draw the line at @'ing people or interrupting otherwise unrelated discussions. Mutual aid posts are allowed (even encouraged) as long as that line is not crossed.
Accounts breaking that policy on our instance will find themselves limited.
@randahl Also to add why it is called mutual aid. In the ideal world, it's a situation where the same $20 gets passed around over and over.
It's supposed to be mutual. I help you because one day I may need to help from you. Solidarity not charity.
Edit: This post just as much, if not more, for the audience of readers here, not you specifically.
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@aral
Since we agree that context is important, allow me to share a bit about my context.As a political commentator, it is important for me to be precise; and in my context, terms like “begging” or “panhandling” are very precise legal terms which define a specific action that is illegal in some jurisdictions, while legal in others.
I respect that in your context, this term is not preferred because it may not express the empathy we both desire, but now you know my motivation for using it.
2/2Are you claiming that your use of the word "begging" in your original post was consistent with the precise legal definition that applies in your home jurisdiction? Feel free to answer either on the basis of the natural and ordinary meaning of domestic legislation, or on the basis of that meaning as modulated by the Strasbourg jurisprudence.
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@GroupNebula563 most of the requests I get are from African countries.
@GroupNebula563 @randahl Genuinely confused by this response?
Do you perceive something different or otherwise objectionable with African countries? Could you explain more?
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Are you claiming that your use of the word "begging" in your original post was consistent with the precise legal definition that applies in your home jurisdiction? Feel free to answer either on the basis of the natural and ordinary meaning of domestic legislation, or on the basis of that meaning as modulated by the Strasbourg jurisprudence.
@only_ohm yes. In my home jurisdiction as in many others, begging is illegal as defined in the Danish penal code §197.
I was personally very sceptical when this law was updated in 2017, because obviously, this law will punish people we should rather help.
The law being from 1930, it does not yet define begging in relation to the use of the internet. But several modern day legal articles draw clear parallels between traditional begging in public spaces and digital begging using online fora.
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Is it okay to beg for money on Mastodon?
Every week I see accounts asking for money, often tagging me or others directly.
I support recognized aid organisations, but these direct requests make me concerned, because as a Mastodon user I have no way of verifying if the requests are legitimate, or some nefarious person is pretending to be a person in need.
So my question is, should Mastodon servers have a policy about begging, and if so, what should the policy be?
@randahl@mastodon.social What a great thread for finding privileged white folx to block! I’d be curious to know how many people whining about “scams” also allow the oligarchs that run their governments to ravage them with taxes at the point of a gun while said billionaires scam the world. Get the fuck over your privilege, you’re never gonna be anything more than a wageslave.
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@randahl Hey Randahl,
It’s 2026, not Dickensian England; we call it mutual aid, not begging.
If we’re talking about Gazans, they are currently facing genocide at the hands of Israel with the full support of countries like the USA, Germany, and the UK and the complicity of almost the entirety of the so-called civilised West. International organisations like the UN are deliberately being prevented from functioning by Israel and US.
If you want a list of people we’ve verified via video calls that you can help during this ongoing genocide by settler colonialists, please see:
https://gaza-verified.org/donate/
I would strongly urge you to take the context into consideration. Ask yourself what you would do if you couldn’t feed your family, if you couldn’t afford to treat your sick children, if the institutions that were supposed to be helping were shackled, and if you were actively being hounded off of every other online space by corporations complicit in the genocide being perpetrated against you.
If people are being forced to ask for help, it’s not their failing but the failing of the system that is forcing them to do so.
@aral
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@randahl I agree that a policy is needed because I get the same thing and I suspect scams are part of this
So there definitely are scams: the ‘my mum in Gaza has diabetes’ was well known. I think tho the concept of ‘legitimate’ is deeply problematic in itself. Ie someone from W Africa asks for help but pretends to be from somewhere more currently in the news and in vogue. Is that really an issue? Well - I don’t want to give cash to someone with 100 staff running a scheme. But generally I don’t really care: ask for help? I’ll try to help.
