The people should own the town square
The Mastodon Team
For any enquiry regarding this announcement, please contact press@joinmastodon.org
Mastodon was founded on the principles that people should be able to control their social circle online, curate their own timeline, and convene freely with any community of their choosing. We believe social media should help users build bridges, not walls. And we believe this is best achieved through federation.
Today, we are excited to announce that Mastodon is taking important steps to ensure its legal and operational structures better reflect and support the pursuit of these ideals.
What is changing
Simply, we are going to transfer ownership of key Mastodon ecosystem and platform components (including name and copyrights, among other assets) to a new non-profit organization, affirming the intent that Mastodon should not be owned or controlled by a single individual.
When founder Eugen Rochko started working on Mastodon, his focus was on creating the code and conditions for the kind of social media he envisioned. The legal setup was a means to an end, a quick fix to allow him to continue operations. From the start, he declared that Mastodon would not be for sale and would be free of the control of a single wealthy individual, and he could ensure that because he was the person in control, the only ultimate decision-maker.
This approach was efficient and expedient at first, but in time it was clear that the Mastodon structures needed to evolve as the community grew. Taking the first tentative steps almost a year ago, there are already multiple organizations involved with shepherding the Mastodon code and platform. The next 6 months will see the transformation of the Mastodon structures, shifting away from the early days’ single-person ownership and enshrining the envisioned independence in a dedicated European not-for-profit entity.
It also means a different role for Eugen, Mastodon’s current CEO. Handing off the overall Mastodon management will free him up to focus on product strategy where his original passion lies and he gains the most satisfaction.
What is staying the same
Our core mission remains the same: to create the tools and digital spaces where people can build authentic, constructive online communities free from ads, data exploitation, manipulative algorithms or corporate monopolies.
We will continue to host mastodon.social and mastodon.online, two Mastodon social network servers where the public can sign up to participate in a social network created using the software, and support a federated network of instances. There will be no change in users experience at this stage, above and beyond the usual code development and releases. However, changes are definitely in the pipeline.
Practically Mastodon will remain headquartered in and operate from Europe primarily. We will continue day-to-day operations through the Mastodon GmbH for-profit entity, which will become wholly owned by the new European not-for-profit entity. The Mastodon GmbH entity automatically became a for-profit as a result of its charitable status being stripped away in Germany. The existing US-based non-profit entity, the 501(c)(3), will continue to function as a fundraising hub.
What comes next
We are in the process of a phased transition. First we are establishing a new legal home for Mastodon and transferring ownership and stewardship. We are taking the time to select the appropriate jurisdiction and structure in Europe. Then we will determine which other (subsidiary) legal structures are needed to support operations and sustainability.
Throughout we will focus on establishing the appropriate governance and leadership frameworks that reflect the nature and purpose of Mastodon as a whole, and responsibly serve the community.
The Mastodon team and the generous group of donors who made this transition possible, worked together to set a list of technical priorities for the project based on community feedback: usability, discoverability, and trust & safety. Our plan is to evolve the user experience with an eye towards simplicity and discoverability. We’re continuing to progress the Fediscovery project, a Mastodon-led and NGI Search funded project which is building an optional, privacy-respecting search tool for the entire Fediverse. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we’re going to invest deeply in trust & safety. We want everyone, especially marginalized communities, to feel safe on our platform. We’re working on building a stronger trust & safety function—including hiring—which will contribute to new features, educate instance admins about best practices, assess community needs, and partner with organizations like IFTAS to share insights and expand the availability of resources in this critical area.
As part of this transition we are committed to bringing you more transparency about our operations. We want to show you what it takes to evolve, expand, maintain and manage this corner of the ActivityPub-enabled Fediverse, and support more direct community participation. We will be sure to share the progress incrementally. We recognize the importance of this transition and are committed to ensuring it is done right.
Will you join us?
We want to be transparent about our operations and priorities for another reason too. We need your help. Grassroots efforts like Mastodon and the Fediverse require creative and monetary contributions from their communities.
We need to grow our annual operating budget to €5 million in 2025. With these additional funds we will grow our team, invest in our community’s safety, and keep building the world’s most free and open social network — the Fediverse. To put it simply, every donation we receive will be put back into enriching the Mastodon software ecosystem and community.
Only with your support can Mastodon and the Fediverse remain free and accessible to everyone. It will take all of us working together to build resilient, governable, open and safe digital spaces.
