Set Global Follow Policy

Overview

Set the global follow policy so the site handles new followers in a way that matches your moderation goals. This helps you balance reach, review effort, and protection without deciding each case from scratch.

This matters because follow handling changes both the public posture of the site and the administrative workload behind it. An open policy reduces friction, manual approval gives you more control over who can follow local actors, and a closed policy blocks the follow path entirely. After you save the chosen policy, new follow requests should follow that default behavior unless another control overrides the flow.

Before you begin

You need permission to edit component options.
Confirm your site policy for follower approval.
If multiple administrators manage the site, make sure the follow policy matches the site’s editorial and moderation expectations.

Steps

Open Components -> Fediverse -> Options.
Find the Follow policy option.
Select the policy that matches the site’s intended follow behavior.
- Open - Accepts follows automatically.
- Manual approval - Requires administrative review before a follow is accepted.
- Closed - Rejects follows by default.
Save the configuration.

Check your result

Reopen the options screen and confirm the selected policy is still saved.
New follow requests now follow the chosen default behavior.

Troubleshooting

Follow behavior does not match the selected policy

Likely cause: Another configuration or policy control is affecting the expected result, or the option was not saved correctly.
Solution: Reopen the options screen, confirm the saved value, and then review whether other site-level controls are affecting the follow flow.

Administrators disagree about the correct follow behavior

Likely cause: The site has not defined a clear moderation posture for followers.
Solution: Decide whether the site should optimize for reach, review, or restriction first, then pick Open, Manual approval, or Closed accordingly.