Registrations should require a valid email address and temporary/disposable (e.g. temp-mail.org ) email services should be rejected.
Note this should not be implemented as a whitelist; “obscure” email services such as Protonmail, Tutanota and personal email servers should be allowed.
Pros:
- Cuts down on the number of trolls attempting to register, reducing load on mods and admins.
- Improves our standing with other instances.
- Ensures users have the ability to reset their password.
Cons:
- Has privacy concerns - people may not want to associate their email address with everything.
- Users may not (and perhaps should not have to) trust the admins of this instance with their email.
- May not be supported well by Lemmy, and/or require a blacklist that needs updating.
Aye and nay in the comments, please.
I have to disagree on this. Not requiring an email was a big reason I actually signed up and am active on here. Plenty of people do not want their email tied to their online activities and it simply adds another layer where they can be tracked. Email, in the end, is about as useless and cumbersome as requiring a phone number for everything. Bad actors will circumvent and only people who wish to contribute in good faith will be impeded.
We currently have captcha enabled on this server which is sufficient for bots and low-effort trolls. I believe time will bring more robust moderation tools and guidelines to deal with the pains of expansion. Right now, our efforts are better served towards accessibility of new users.