New insights into the people, pressures, and infrastructure shaping decentralised platforms

Published by IFTAS, this report draws on detailed surveys and community feedback from volunteer moderators, administrators, and community managers across the decentralised social web. It offers our most comprehensive picture yet of the trust and safety landscape across projects like Mastodon, GoToSocial, WordPress, PeerTube, and more.

What’s in the Report

• New pressures on moderators: The average mod-to-user ratio has worsened to 1:3,500
• Spam has overtaken CSAM as the top concern for most teams
• Burnout remains widespread: 1 in 5 admins and moderators reported trauma or exhaustion
• Most services lack legal or procedural safeguards needed to manage risk
• Small communities dominate, but the ecosystem lacks tooling designed for them
• Consent-based federation is emerging as a desired model for growth and safety

What’s New in 2025

• There is growing consolidation among large services – and growing strain
• There’s less onboarding of new moderators, even as threats increase
• Disinformation campaigns and AI-generated spam are now prominent risks
• Legal and regulatory complexity is increasing – but support remains scarce

Forecasts for 2026

This year’s report also includes a forward-looking forecast, identifying five trends that will shape the coming year:

• Shared logic and trust signals will replace fragmented blocklists
• Synthetic media and impersonation will challenge human moderation
• Infrastructure capture risks are rising as more tooling centralises
• Global safety regulation is becoming enforceable, not optional
• Greylisting and allowlisting may soon replace “default open federation”

Why This Matters

Moderators are the backbone of a safer social web – but most are unpaid, under-supported, and under constant strain. If we want a future for decentralised platforms that respects user agency, civil speech, and community autonomy, we need to support the infrastructure that keeps it safe.

Read the Report

Download the 2025 Needs Assessment Report (PDF)

In the weeks ahead, we’ll be publishing a series of follow-up posts that take a closer look at the trends, challenges, and emerging patterns highlighted in this year’s report. These articles will explore context and practical insights for anyone working to support safer, more resilient decentralised platforms.

Media or Press Enquiries

For questions, interviews, or background information related to the report or IFTAS’ work, contact press@iftas.org

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