I don't really like the country analogy but I do agree with your overall point. I think, as Lemmy gets bigger, more people will actually look into different instances and join the ones they relate to or want to participate in the most.
As you said, it'll take some time, but I do think it's only a matter of time, if that makes sense haha
IDK, I think a big thing with federation should be communities being spread out, instead of centralized in one instance. I totally get why you would want to move away from lemmy.ml, both on account of the Mali government and feeling like it doesn't fit, but why not move to, say, Lemmy.zip or Derpzilla.net, since they're tech and gaming focused instances? I get discoverability, but on the other hand, wouldn't being on an instance of people that are more likely to care about a certain topic be better for discoverability too?
IDK, just saying. Hope all goes well with your community!
I still think it's meaningless though. "A fine is a price". If they can get away with it, they can do it. I don't think there's much of a point in relying on legislation to determine whether something should be done or not. Fundamentally, whether they have a right to it or not, they shouldn't do it. Meaning they shouldn't have that right, if they do.
"The way things are supposed to be" according to who? Capital? The law, written by capital?
You really didn't need to say all that... xd