it’s a problem inherit with federation:

• Lemmy allows upvotes and downvotes
• allowing downvotes is instance dependent
• visibility of totals/upvotes/downvotes is theme dependent

• @Rikudou_Sage has the answer to see which instances are linked and blocked by any particular instance
• defederating/blocking is not bilateral – instance A can block instance B without instance B blocking instance A
• federating/linking is initiated when you search, browse, or subscribe to another community from your home instance – no need to send a request to your admin
• even then, you still won’t see anything from instances your instance has blocked – which is why it is important to pick a home instance whose policies you agree with

• just subscribe to a few of the more active communities, or
• pick and choose which flavor of community you agree with
  • just like Reddit, none of the communities are exact duplicates, each has a different vibe, a different raison d’être, a different subscriber base, a different pool of commenters …