True, but if Meta (or anyone) wanted to "directly" get that data, it would be as trivial as setting up an instance on something as small as a Raspberry Pi and subscribing to a community here. We would have no way of knowing who it is or stopping them. Defederation is a tool to prevent brigading, not lurking.
If (if) Meta wanted to set a lemmy-style platform, preemptively defederating from it would be a largely symbolic gesture. Doesn't mean it's not worth doing, like I said we'll cross that bridge if and when it becomes relevant.
OP- you are not on StarTrek.website. You're on feddit.de. When you scroll /c/Risa you are scrolling a "copy" on feddit.de.
I assure you we are fully functional.
EDIT: FWIW I checked /c/Risa on feddit.de and thumbnails loaded fine ...maybe try clearing your browser cache?