# Dither messaging specification **URL:** https://forum.cosmos.network/t/dither-messaging-specification/8071 **Category:** Signaling/Text **Created:** [November 3, 2022, 12:32am UTC](https://forum.cosmos.network/t/dither-messaging-specification/8071 "2022-11-03T00:32:48Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 1
### Author: ![jaekwon](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/forum.cosmos.network/jaekwon/32/462_2.png) [@jaekwon](https://forum.cosmos.network/u/jaekwon) #### Post date: [November 3, 2022, 12:32am UTC](https://forum.cosmos.network/t/dither-messaging-specification/8071/1 "2022-11-03T00:32:48Z")
# Dither Decentralized messaging for all Cosmos blockchains ## What is Dither? Dither is a specification for CosmosSDK (and other Tendermint-based) chains to implement Twitter-like functionality by simply utilizing the transaction’s MEMO field. By leveraging the MEMO field of a transaction, any Cosmos zone can host a censorship-proof conversation on the blockchain, in a censorship resistant way. Dither is not a product, but a specification. Anyone can create a Dither compliant blockchain, and anyone can create a Dither compliant message browser. ## How does it work? ### Dither spec 0.1 1. Use the transaction’s MEMO field to record a Dither message. The MEMO must start with a “#” character. Any spaces immediately following the “#” will be discarded (left and right trimmed). Transactions with empty memo fields are ignored for the purpose of Dither. 2. Viewers such as blockchain explorers must display the first signer’s bech32 address. The message must be sanitized and escaped so as to prevent scripts from running. For safety, links should NOT be clickable, but remain as plaintext, unless the URL passes the viewer’s whitelist. Text that looks like URLs should be scanned for what may be phishing attempts and warn the viewer. 3. That’s it. The spec is intentionally kept simple, so as to allow convention to be formed by the community. Name resolution and accountable recommendations and indexing are left as an exercise for the community to be solved for later versions of the Dither spec, to be submitted as pull requests. _NOTE: This is perhaps too minimal, and not safe enough. Please submit a PR_ ## Why do we need Dither? The Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal has already proven that private interests can work with private social media companies to even sway government elections. Presented with no further comment: - “You take a vaccine, and a year goes by, and everybody’s fine. Then, you say, ‘Okay, that’s good. Now let’s give it to five hundred people.’ Then a year goes by and everybody’s fine. So, well, then, let’s give it to thousand of people, and then you find out that IT TAKES TWELVE YEARS for all hell to break loose! And then, what have you done?” - Dr. Anthony Fauci (Feb. 1999) - “The world today has 6.8 billion people; that’s headed up to about 9 billion. Now if we can do a really great job on new vaccines, healthcare, reproductive health services, we can lower that by perhaps 10 or 15 percent.” - Bill Gates, TED Talk 2010. - “The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a new $250 million commitment on Thursday, adding to the foundation’s total investment to $1.75 billion into combating COVID-19 through vaccine development and distribution.” - [abcnews.go.com](http://abcnews.go.com) - “Gates Foundation now WHO’s biggest funder” - [indiatimes.com](http://indiatimes.com) - “YouTube doesn’t allow content that spreads medical misinformation that contradicts local health authorities’ (LHA) or the World Health Organization’s (WHO) medical information about COVID-19.” - [google.com](http://google.com) - “DHS plans to target inaccurate information on “the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, racial justice, U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the nature of U.S. support to Ukraine.”” - [Leaked Documents Outline DHS’s Plans to Police Disinformation](https://theintercept.com/2022/10/31/social-media-disinformation-dhs/) Now with Turing-test passing AI readily available as open source platforms, the singularity is already here, and centralized social media platforms can now more than ever be manipulated by near-sentient AI bots with or without the paid consent of the company. * * * link: [GitHub - tendermint/dither: Decentralized messaging for all Cosmos blockchains](https://github.com/tendermint/dither) --- _[View the full topic](https://forum.cosmos.network/t/dither-messaging-specification/8071)._