Summary: Freenode is now down to just 13,194 online users, which makes it the 6th biggest IRC network. Months ago it was #1 with almost 6 times as many users as those below it. The graph above shows what the latest blunder has done (another massive drop in less than a week, with a poem and the all-time chart at the very bottom).
Freenode is FOSS
So said the BOSS
ROOT gave a TOSS
Wanted us to trust the ToS
Onboard came the edgy
It seemed kind of sketchy
Database down with the wedgie
IRC.com is fund-hedgy
No more anon access
Users and channels gettin' nervous
A "RITUAL DEFAMATION" thesis
But self-harm being the Nemesis
Setting up several reliable copies of the data, plus several off-site backups (this data is nowhere as sensitive as medical data), should only cost a few grand
If someone (or someones) calls you paranoid for taking about "beacon"-like functionality, there will be no lack of authoritative citations (e.g. Web links) they can be provided to prove them wrong
There's no "anti-AI" (it's not even AI), there's opposition to fraud, to plagiarism, and to companies that profit more when there's global warning (caused in part by their business activities)