I wanna see instances federated with most instances now that in individuals can ban entire instances. I know theres still some instances you want completely blocked from the off tho.
Do instances want to remain legally protected by blocking all those instances?
I think a perfectly acceptable line to draw is "Is it reasonable to expect a large majority of the people on this instance would want this other instance blocked?" If the answer is yes, block them. If somebody has a problem with that, move to a different instance.
My issue with other instances is largely their users and the new instance block feature merely blocks communities, not users. I’m very fine with continuing to avoid users of loli/pedo/alt right condoning instances.
AFAIK you can block the POSTS of another instance from your feed. And only posts from communities hosted on those instances. But their users' comments and posts will still appear for you everywhere else.
Replies don't go to your inbox either I've found. I've had the misfortune of being replied to by one of the Hexbear trolls and only noticed because someone else replied to that same comment aswell and I saw the troll's reply in the context.
In the decentralized network of the fediverse where freedom of association is king, you're free to start your own instance that will federate with everybody. Of course, the other admins are as free as you are and may decide to not federate with you. Such is that degree of freedom.
Instances can (and should) block whatever other instances they want, based on whatever reason they can come up with. If your instance blocks an instance you want to use, either switch to another instance or host your own.