-

2026-02-10 21:13:21

randahl@mastodon.social

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?

2026-02-10 21:16:53

Carolyn

CStamp@mastodon.social

@randahl I think it would be too much work for the hosts of the instances to verify. I think folk can ask, and it's up to responders to verify. It would get complicated otherwise, as people also market their businesses. It's easy to mute and block if annoyed.

2026-02-10 21:22:11

Sebastian Hahn

sebastianhahn@mastodon.world

I block each and everyone of these begging accounts the moment they ask me for money. I donate to quite a variety of official organizations, and I see no need to hand out money to any person (or bot?) posting pics of hungry kids. There is no way to telling these are legit causes, so no money from me. Never.

2026-02-10 21:23:08

Ho Ho Ho Like The Slur

coolandnormal@aus.social

@randahl
A. Yes. It is okay, please do it if you need to. 😊
B. The policy in my community is that it is acceptable and encouraged.

2026-02-10 21:24:30

Bodhipaksa

bodhipaksa@mastodon.scot

@randahl I also have mixed feelings, and usually just scroll past them. I wouldn't call it begging myself, because that sounds pejorative.

2026-02-10 21:24:44

Dan Hatton

only_ohm@mas.to

@randahl

Isn't the point of decentralization that there's room for servers that have a wide range of different policies, and for servers that have no policy at all?

2026-02-10 21:26:40

Darkstar

realgnomidad@mastodon.social

@randahl I usually mute or block the accounts. I agree with your points, personally, but if some instances want to promote community help like this they should be allowed to do so. As already pointed out, not hard to mute/block the accounts.

2026-02-10 21:28:58

Gabriel Pettier

tshirtman@mas.to

@randahl i think not all request are going to be legit, but some certainly are, it's hard to know the difference, and it's hard to tell people they shouldn't ask if they need help, it's to each of us to decide when we are confident enough to give, how comfortable we are with the risk of either giving to someone who is taking advantage, or not giving to someone who needs it.

Filters are rarely perfect, you can generally only trade false positives for false negatives.

2026-02-10 21:35:38

Gondor

grootinside@troet.cafe

@randahl
If someone unknown would tag me (personally) begging for money i'd mute/block instantly bc of above reasons.
If that'd happen repeatedly i'd set up a filter or something.

Don't think it should be a generalised policy of the fediverse. Generalised policies tend to "go to far".
One idea: Question/report to the admin of the beggingacount instance? "Verified/legitimate? Can you provide a source if?" But only if one feels like it could be real.🤔

2026-02-10 21:39:22

Jonas 🇩🇰 🇬🇱

Jonasdahl@expressional.social

@randahl Good question. I have the same experience and noticed the same picture of starving kids in different profiles. Could be a potential problem for Mastodon if people finds it unsafe to be here. Just my opinion.

2026-02-10 21:47:16

Dario Zanette

DarioZanette@mastodon.uno

@randahl

@devol interesting question (from other istances).

2026-02-10 21:50:11

Nomdeb

nomdeb@mstdn.social

@randahl I do not respond to direct requests from unknown people, however dear to my heart their cause or circumstances may be. I may respond to people I know (or have been following for a while) either for themselves, or who personally know a person and share details. Like you, I donate to recognized aid organizations only, otherwise.

2026-02-10 21:55:19

Bill Jorth

wdjorth@mastodon.online

@randahl I ignore the requests. I don't have a way to carefully evaluate the requests and I don't havce the time.

2026-02-10 21:56:55

Parade du Grotesque 💀

ParadeGrotesque@mastodon.sdf.org

@randahl

It's called 'mutual aid' and it is something accepted on Mastodon.

It's based on the idea that you may be able to help today, but also that you may need help yourself tomorrow.

2026-02-10 21:59:15

Martin Seeger

masek@infosec.exchange

@randahl As long as it doesn’t drown out other content, I would not introduce rules.

2026-02-10 22:07:26

Robin Barton

Robo105@mastodon.social

@randahl I agree that a policy is needed because I get the same thing and I suspect scams are part of this

2026-02-10 22:13:23

Em & future cats 🇺🇦🐈🏳️‍🌈

em_and_future_cats@mastodon.social

@randahl I get these messages too, I do feel bad that I can’t tell if they’re legitimate or not. However, I have come to the realization that if it is legitimate they will ask the whole family of mastodon for help with a hashtag, or be a part of an organization as you said. I do think that having this kind of resource is a good thing, but we should treat “direct messages” as potential scams. Obviously, if you know this person irl, then you can always verify that you wanna help and how to do it.

2026-02-10 22:16:56

Stewart

willie1foot@theblower.au

@randahl I mute them... which can be time consuming. There's far too many for me to afford supporting these individuals and as you said, it's hard to validate whether they are genuine.

2026-02-10 22:23:51

LillaVee

LillaVee@mastodon.social

@randahl

1. Republicans run fake Palestinian accounts begging for humanitarian donations.

2. People with kind hearts fall for it.

3. The 2011 NDAA’s indefinite detention clause (which has been renewed every year) is used to incarcerate and enslave or kill them without trial for “funding terrorists.”

4. Republicans reach orgasm masturbating to their cruelty and get money for it.

2026-02-10 22:28:54

Lydia Schoch

lydiaschoch@mastodon.social

@randahl I mute or block accounts who do that because I don’t have extra funds to share, some of them ask far too often (IMO), and I have no way to verify their claims even if I had something to give them.

I don’t have an opinion on what Mastodon servers should do about this issue other than that they should be very clear about whether or not it’s allowed.

Other than that, I mind my own business. It’s hard to know what’s really happening in other folk’s lives.

2026-02-10 22:29:59

Lydia Schoch

lydiaschoch@mastodon.social

@randahl It’s strange that they’re tagging you directly, though. I think that’s way too much pressure.

2026-02-10 22:34:31

Leeloo

leeloo@chaosfem.tw

@randahl
You're asking your question as if Mastodon was a centralized social network with one policy.

2026-02-10 22:45:46

billy joe bowers 🗽

billyjoebowers@mastodon.online

@randahl

I mute them. There is absolutely no way for me to know if they're legit, and it's obvious many of them aren't.

It's not even like giving money to random people on the street, these could be organized criminals.

2026-02-10 22:47:32

craignicol

craignicol@glasgow.social

@randahl not all the requests will be genuine, but there's enough mutual aid and verified accounts that I think banning then would have adverse real world consequences for people who have to let recourse.

That said, I prefer to put my money into changing the system, in addition to being the individual. And there are organisations who do both.

2026-02-10 22:56:52

BSM (sw.s) 🇨🇭

bsm@swiss.social

@randahl I just block and report them. ✅

2026-02-10 23:12:04

Furbland's Very Cool Mastodon™

GroupNebula563@mastodon.social

@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.

2026-02-10 23:29:05

Big Kumera Energy

depereo@mastodon.social

@randahl a good resource for understanding mutual aid is the book 'mutual aid' by dean spade which is available in its entirety here:

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/dean-spade-mutual-aid

I don't know if you'll have a definitive answer to your question after reading but it might help. I don't have settled thoughts on direct individual requests from internationally distant strangers either.

2026-02-10 23:44:52

Vladyslav

newsgroup@social.vir.group

@randahl This is a difficult issue, and it really requires thoughtful measures to address it properly. Charity is important and valuable, but there also needs to be a level of responsibility and common sense in how it’s handled.

2026-02-11 00:30:03

ShadSterling

ShadSterling@mastodon.social

@randahl some instances do have policies, and I think it’s good to have a policy. I think posts asking for help from whoever happens to see the post are fine, and most of the policies I’ve seen encourage that. I think asking specific accounts for money, especially without some kind of longstanding relationship, is too much, but I’m not sure what response a policy should call for

2026-02-11 04:38:48

Assaf 🌴

assaf@mas.to

@randahl in timeline post or DM?

DM = scam - they focus on specific account to land the gullible that will pay

2026-02-11 05:59:25

@iveyline

Iveyline@mastodon.nz

@randahl I agree. There are a lot of people asking for money. Few are verifiable. I would prefer to see these eliminated unless totally verifiable.

2026-02-11 06:17:23

Sozan

GRA3432@mastodon.world

@randahl your question and a lot of the answers make me shiver. Yes, there might be fakes. But most of them had to swallow their pride to come here and ask for help because they, worse, their children, are in dire need. Nobody forces you to give them anything. Showing up in your time line doesn't cost you a dime. So why do you want a 'policy'? To get them banned, as already some instances do? I only regret I can't help. It hurts bad enough.

2026-02-11 06:29:01

Alexander Goeres 𒀯

jabgoe2089@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@Randahl Fink of course people and organisations can ask for money here in the fediverse. but if that's all they do i will stop following them and when they show up in other followers' comments will mute them.

this is a very good point:

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 i mostly ignore such requests ...

2026-02-11 15:42:41

JimmyB (he/him)

JimmyB@mas.to

@jabgoe2089

What’s ‘legitimate’ and how would you determine legitimacy?

If you were truly desperate, what would you do?

2026-02-11 15:53:44

Alexander Goeres 𒀯

jabgoe2089@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@JimmyB (he/him) i don't know what "legitimate" should be in this respect. organisations and people known to me from other circumstances are believable. and as i said : everybody is free to ask, and i am free to decide ..

2026-02-11 08:46:29

Aral Balkan

aral@mastodon.ar.al

@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.

2026-02-11 09:50:29

Mike 🇬🇧 🇪🇺

MikeFromLFE@cupoftea.social

@randahl@mastodon.social I block, but don't report.
It's impossible to know which, if any, are genuine.

2026-02-11 12:35:43

JimmyB (he/him)

JimmyB@mas.to

@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.

2026-02-11 16:30:10

Josh

krnlg@mastodon.social

@randahl
Thinking all aid should go through an aid org is not great. It casts undue doubt and judgement on people for asking for money directly.

One of the most empowering things you can do is to see someone needing help and *just go help them*. You don't need official channels for that, you can make your own judgement.

And by the way yeah the word "begging" is pejorative.

2026-02-11 18:31:23

S★m V★rm★

samvarma@fosstodon.org

@randahl I think it's fine, the same way that if I pass a panhandler in a public area I don't object even if I don't contribute. I've mostly only seen this from folks I'm familiar with or boosts from people I'm familiar with. It might be culturally specific, because in the United States life is really precarious to a degree not seen in other western countries, so it is very typical for people to set up ad hoc fundraising for life events that would simply not occur in other developed countries.

2026-02-11 19:21:13

Stella C 🇨🇦

SCampbell@mstdn.social

@randahl I understand your concern whether the account is actually real. But just as we have no laws against begging in public spaces, I don't believe we should have a policy in a virtual space. Some will give; most won't.

2026-02-12 10:49:04

Irene, antifascist

irenebal@mstdn.social

@randahl

Dear Randahl, in my world, your question is biased and, moreover, provocative, even inflammatory. Fortunately, the answer is very simple: no policy is needed. If you don't want to donate, you don't. Period. Your question is therefore - on top of verything already mentioned - superfluous. Have a good day.

2026-02-13 13:44:14

Maria Langer | 📝💎🌵🛥️

mlanger@mastodon.world

@randahl For the record, I'm with you on this.