BeeDemocracy
I think it's the opposite. On Mastadon you can make a new account on a better server ie mods more aligned with you. On bluesky if you make a new account and say a similar bannable thing again you'll be banned again.
Conversations for android is an example of a good XMPP client.
The protocol is worse for privacy
'Trust me bro'
The problem is, you're comparing apples with orchards. Analogous would be: 'email is worse for privacy than yahoomail'. Plus in this scenario yahoomail only lets you send emails to yahoomail addresses.
Phone numbers are no longer required iirc
Phone numbers are still required to register and maintain an account. Only difference now is you can choose to hide it from other users and give people a 'username' to look you up with instead.
Matrix and XMPP are not alternatives and are worse for privacy and security
XMPP is exactly as good or bad for privacy as the servers and clients you choose. It's a protocol, not a service. Unlike Signal, which is a brand/app/service package.
Mate, come on... Why would you say such a libellous thing about my 'countrymen' (and -women)? Nobody likes serial killers and mass murderers. And what we loathe even more is corrupt top brass and politicians washing their hands of their responsibility in the war crimes. All we want is to live our lives in peace but we keep getting dragged into bloody wars by our [censored]* foreign partner and puppet politicians.
*this information I gather lives on 'documents in the safe' which were scooped away from the court and the judge's eyes due to 'national security' concerns.
Ok, so where is the collusion with a foreign power in the Manning publications? Tell me, which charges did they drop that alleged espionage, rather than talking to a source and publishing information?
Again, Assange pleaded guilty to journalism. Your Espionage Act criminalises encouraging sources and publishing info about war crimes.
Russia is now doing the same thing to a US journalist for the WSJ, accusing him of being a spy.
Someone hasn't read the plea deal...
You do realise that his source, Manning, is American. It's the Manning leaks he was prosecuted for. There is no mention of collusion with any country in the indictment or plea.
Depends, how stiff is his neck?