How do downvotes work from other instances? Are they just not counted if you’re viewing from an instance that disables downvotes?

Those are valid concerns, however privacy could be solved by support for encrypted DMs and posts. IIRC Mastodon has plans for encrypted posts and DMs, so it’s not out of the realm.

Even if they revert the API changes, I know It’s only going to get worse when the IPO happens, so I don’t think I could ever come back. I also like the federated approach more anyways 🤷