[WIP] MSC4152: Room labeling and filtering

[turt2live]

Rendered

In line with matrix-org/matrix-spec#1700, the following disclosure applies:

I am Director of Standards Development at The Matrix.org Foundation C.I.C., Matrix Spec Core Team (SCT) member, employed by Element, and operate the t2bot.io service. This proposal is written and published as a Trust & Safety team member allocated in full to the Foundation.

[Gnuxie]

So, what is the intention behind using namespaced labels?

I can assume that it is to make labels more consistent for client developers and consumers of the data that are going to build fancy room directories, maybe. But it doesn't really help those who will want to freetext the labels and write whatever they like, people are likely going to do that regardless (and may or may not namespace them, which will cause more fragmentation).

And yes, freetext labels can also be used to advertise abusive content, but that's likely going to happen even with namespaced labels unless the main clients gatekeep the available labels somehow (and even then, the gatekeeping can probably be circumvented just by using element web's /devtools). Though that could be considered good enough?

Servers could also getekeep the supported labels for their own room directory, I guess.

[turt2live]

Using identifiers allows for translations on the label values, and a more consistent experience for client developers. The IDs themselves should never be shown to the user verbatim.

This MSC is also a work in progress, and this is an undefined area.