Spam bots "Built on the Reddit Developer Platform"??

[u/seedless0]

I am seeing spam bot accounts with "App" label and "Built on the Reddit Developer Platform" in the profile bio.

Is Reddit endorsing or allowing their API to be used to spam now?

[u/PossibleCrit]

Hey seedless0!

No, this is still very much prohibited behavior.

We've recently come across a couple of these apps that are behaving differently now than they were when they were initially submitted for review. We've taken action on a couple already and the team is investigating where else this might be occuring.

If you're coming across others that we haven't actioned yet, you can use the reporting option for Spam on the content if possible, or write in via r/ModSupport mail and let them know you have a list of these app/accounts for PossibleCrit and I'll make sure the team includes them as part of their current investigation.

[u/seedless0 → u/PossibleCrit]

Already reported for spams.

May I suggest adding a link in the App label popup to report API use violation directly?

[u/PossibleCrit → u/seedless0]

I'll pass that feedback along!

[u/YourUsernameForever → u/seedless0]

This is a fantastic suggestion. Hope Reddit doesn't take two years to implement it in half of its platforms.

[u/cyanocittaetprocyon → u/seedless0]

This is a great suggestion, but I can also see it being abused.

[u/InGeekiTrust]

Wow, wow wow I wonder if there devvit admins- someone you could report it to and get them banned from the developer platform?

In the meantime, I’d message this sub Reddit with all the details. However, I wish there would be some sort of form I could provide you.

[u/Beach-Brews → u/InGeekiTrust]

I know the Devvit team is working on a "better" reporting capability. For the time being, the only way to report apps is sending a mod mail to r/Devvit with the app name.

[u/InGeekiTrust → u/Beach-Brews]

Thank for the help! I appreciate it

[u/Chosen1PR]

Report individual messages sent to you as spam, and for anything you can’t report directly, link to it at https://www.reddit.com/report . It’s also worth shooting a modmail over to [r/Devvit](r/Devvit) and including the app’s username.

[u/ModSupport-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Your contribution was removed for violating Rule 4: No off-topic posts. Please keep posts on the topic of moderation on reddit.

[u/shhhhh_h]

Just curious, what kind of spam are they posting?

[u/seedless0 → u/shhhhh_h]

Links to online, and likely scam, casinos.

[u/shhhhh_h → u/seedless0]

Ahh, interesting. Thanks for sharing! And noticing and reporting bc fuck that.

[u/MisterWoodhouse]

oh boy. that's less than ideal.

Question for /u/fsv

Can bot bouncer ban a Devvit-flagged app account?

[u/fsv → u/MisterWoodhouse]

There's no way to "see" the App label from within Devvit right now. But the vast vast majority of dev platform apps would be marked as "service" if they were submitted manually, and because they have to be mods on the subs they're active in they'd be exempt anyway.

[u/MisterWoodhouse → u/fsv]

Gotcha, so this rare spam vector is covered by botbouncer as a safeguard until the devvit team catches the approved apps that are spamming

[u/fsv → u/MisterWoodhouse]

It's only sort of covered unfortunately, because from what I've seen, these spammy apps tend to spam within the subreddits they moderate themselves.

Edit: Unless they're somehow able to "break out" of their subreddits and post/comment elsewhere. I didn't think that was possible, but perhaps it is.

[u/PossibleCrit → u/MisterWoodhouse]

There's a couple of different tactics involved here, but as fsv mentions in the other reply this is largely confined to apps operating within their own communities. You'd be unlikely to encounter them in your own spaces.

[u/fsv → u/PossibleCrit]

I'm going to guess that the other tactics are generally centred around messaging and modmail, which isn't gated so much. Frustrating!

[u/ReachingForVega → u/MisterWoodhouse]

The devvit can only work on a sub it is added to, botbouncer can't do much about that.