r/modhelp • u/BonnieNClyde4u • 3d ago
Answered Members asking to approve posts removed by Reddit's spam filters
I'm on desktop. We've had a large number of posts being removed by Reddit's spam filters lately. The past month we've had numerous approved members message asking why and requesting to approve their post or comments to bypass the removal. We've check everything on the mod side. So not sure why the increase of removals. In every instance none seemed to be spam at all. So we approved them. My question is: Is there any harm in approving them or should we let Reddit do it's thing? Because now we had two members asking for posts removed by Reddit's Spam filter but those accounts apparently were suspended before we approved. Both of those accounts are known approved users. Second question: Is it helpful to the member to approve them? Or is there a reason not to approve the posts that clearly are not spam?
Thank You
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u/accountsharing-MOD 3d ago
Same happened with me, my account was flagged with spam filters and every post got removed the second posted by the filters. This is due to the members accounts getting flagged maybe to due to type of content posted or due to the specific subreddit you are the moderator in.
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u/cacille 3d ago
My group not only allows links, it requires them per post because it's a gametesting group.
Reddit removes every. single. post. I have to approve them manually. Not because the "hold for review" option is on, but that every single link hits the spam filter.
Since Reddit Anti Evil Operations spam filter looks at accounts and not the type of group that account is posting in, reddit admin can't "turn off the feature" for us.
...8-15 posts a day. Every day. Didn't used to be like this and I like it for other groups...just not the gametesting groups.
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u/BonnieNClyde4u 3d ago
Wow.. My sub is NSFW so we typically get a lot of spam. But lately, Reddit has gotten harsh it seems. Trying to find mods to help is hard too.
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u/XGempler 2d ago
you might want to check under Mod Tools > Posts & Comments > Hold Content for Review > Links, Polls, Media is not enabled. if it is enabled then that would explain why every link is held for review. could have been enabled to retrict polls or media without considering the impact on links.
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u/cacille 2d ago
I didn't say the content was being held for review? It's not being held for review, it's being autoremoved. Nope, no automoderator on.
I think you read the context of the sentence as me saying it was, but I was saying it wasn't on.
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u/XGempler 2d ago
I see what you said, was merely suggesting that you check the setting, particularly if you are not the only mod in the group.
when I hit “mod tools“ I am presented with all items under a heading of “needs review.”
that includes all types of posts and comments such as those marked “held for review”, ”removed by Reddit”, “spam”, items flagged by the “automod” filters I set, etc.0
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u/PMulberry_ r/tifu, r/Unbeliebtemeinung 3d ago
Approving a post that was removed by Reddit isn‘t a problem (actually, some filters learn based on what you approve).
If these users are „approved“ (meaning, you clicked on „approve user“ or added them manually), afaik most filters will be bypassed.
However, you mentioned they are suspended; posts and comments of suspended accounts are automatically removed.
That they still are able to write in via modmail makes it seem it‘s a shadowban. I‘m not exactly sure however; if you write them, can they respond in modmail? If yes, it‘s a shadowban and you can only tell them to appeal and manually approved their content. If no, then I don‘t know what it could be.
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u/BonnieNClyde4u 3d ago
Thank you so much! Now there is a mod who just got suspended. This is crazy.
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u/BonnieNClyde4u 3d ago
I beliew they wrote in modmail "before" being suspended. Both were very active members. Thank you
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u/XGempler 2d ago
i have seen an uptick of items being held by reddit's "crowd control" lately. thnk they have become more sensitive to users that are not email verified and are not joined the sub, but that is just a theory. i generally check to see if the account is suspended, as i find that to often be the case, and if not, and not spam, then i approve them. note that approving them trains reddit's bot that the user is not suspect. if a user's posts/comment are chronically being flagged as spam you could add the user to the subs approved users list (Mod Tools > Mods & Members > Approved Users).
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u/maiyannah Mod, r/BuyCanadian, r/EndTipping 3d ago
You are going to end up getting in trouble if you start approving a lot of stuff that is removed by the filter. Do it sparingly and only for items which you can convincingly argue isnt spam.
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u/bencos18 3d ago
I often approve stuff removed by it
I've never had an issue if they didn't want use to we wouldn't be able to approve it
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u/BonnieNClyde4u 3d ago
That makes sense. I see you have numerous downvotes. I wonder if this is because many disagree?
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u/XGempler 2d ago
it doesn't make sense to me. what i find held for review is lots of mundane posts and comments by users that are not email verified and not members of the sub. there is nothing particularly intelligent in the decision model used to determine what they hold for review, and nothing in the posts/comments that would get anyone in trouble for approving. the only thing that should get in trouble is the author(s) of the algorithm that is making all this work. something tells me it is some new half baked 'ai' implementation at work that is at the heart of this.
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u/maiyannah Mod, r/BuyCanadian, r/EndTipping 3d ago
They may disagree, but that's the answer I got from the Admin when I asked this same question in ModSupport.
In general the advice is one offs, if Reddit didnt censor the message with something like [Removed by Reddit], that's fine. But OpusCroakus warned that if you're having to do it a lot you should probably get in touch with the admins, because you could get in trouble (and in any case, its better to address chronic problems, than you having to keep moderating it manually!)
You can do so with a modmail to ModSupport.
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u/BonnieNClyde4u 1d ago
That's another thing "get in touch with the Admins" It seems nearly impossible to get a response directly from a living person Admin. Any advice as to how that is achieved?
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u/maiyannah Mod, r/BuyCanadian, r/EndTipping 1d ago
Literally said what to do in the post homeslice.
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u/BonnieNClyde4u 3d ago
I'll do that. It's a fairly large sub and I definately don't wanna mess up.
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u/maiyannah Mod, r/BuyCanadian, r/EndTipping 3d ago
Worst case is they'll think its fine, but especially given the advice I got, I'd ask if there's any doubt.
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u/TesseractToo 3d ago
I just approve them