IMO it can be MUCH simpler. Deleting content should propagate across federation just like adding content does. De-federating should retroactively remove all content that it would normally keep from propagating (possibly leaving “this post/comment deleted” markers so that replies make sense). And losing track of an instance for long enough (e.g. a week, or a month) should be equivalent to de-federating, possibly with the option to resurrect content when and if the instance comes back online.
I believe that would remove a lot of the issues with extra traffic, and possibly a lot of the issues with extra processing. I don’t know enough about the protocol to tell whether it would add requirements for extra data, but I suspect it wouldn’t.
IMO it can be MUCH simpler. Deleting content should propagate across federation just like adding content does. De-federating should retroactively remove all content that it would normally keep from propagating (possibly leaving “this post/comment deleted” markers so that replies make sense). And losing track of an instance for long enough (e.g. a week, or a month) should be equivalent to de-federating, possibly with the option to resurrect content when and if the instance comes back online.
I believe that would remove a lot of the issues with extra traffic, and possibly a lot of the issues with extra processing. I don’t know enough about the protocol to tell whether it would add requirements for extra data, but I suspect it wouldn’t.