Growing Harassment and Toxic Behavior Across the Fediverse

Over the past few weeks, there has been a growing amount of conflict and harassment spreading across parts of the fediverse involving a user named cmdr_nova. What started as arguments and personal disputes quickly turned into something much more uncomfortable for many people watching the situation unfold.

One thing that immediately caught attention was the use of mkultra as part of her domain name. For those unfamiliar with the reference, MKUltra was a real CIA human experimentation program that operated without consent and caused serious harm to many people, especially Black victims who were disproportionately affected by these abuses. Because of the history behind the name, many people already viewed its usage as disturbing and insensitive.

As the weeks went on, the situation became increasingly chaotic. cmdr_nova began publicly attacking people who were not directly involved in her disputes. One of the most alarming examples involved a trans man who appeared to have nothing to do with the original conflict but was suddenly dragged into public callouts and harassment. Shortly afterward, a transmasc person was also targeted with stalking behavior and threats involving prison time. Several admins from todon.nl were dragged into the situation as well, creating even more tension throughout the fediverse.

The behavior did not stay public either. Behind the scenes, personal boundaries were repeatedly ignored. At one point, cmdr_nova attempted to use my deadname in order to “verify” that I was not dav1d. This happened despite the fact that I had privately told her multiple times not to use my deadname because it makes me uncomfortable. Being deadnamed after clearly setting boundaries felt deeply disrespectful and honestly cruel.

Sadly, I was not the only person affected. My trans friend Ashley was also privately harassed by cmdr_nova. The situation became stressful enough that Ashley eventually decided to delete her fediverse account entirely. Nobody should feel forced to leave an online community because of targeted harassment and constant hostility from another user.

A lot of people have tried dismissing all of this as “just internet drama,” but it goes far beyond simple disagreements or arguments online. Repeated harassment, stalking behavior, intimidation, and intentionally violating personal boundaries can have real emotional effects on the people being targeted. Communities across the fediverse often claim to support marginalized people and provide safer spaces, but situations like this show how quickly those values can fall apart when harmful behavior is ignored or normalized.

At the end of the day, people should be able to exist online without constantly fearing harassment, deadnaming, stalking, or public humiliation. Disagreements are one thing, but targeted behavior that drives people away from communities entirely is something much more serious.