https://www.reddit.com/r/ModSupport/comments/hx46uy/lets_fix_the_subreddit_ban_evasion_problem/
created by justcool393 on 24/07/2020 at 15:51 UTC
153 upvotes, 10 top-level comments (showing 10)
If you're either new to moderation or have been here a while, you've likely come across a banned subreddit with this message
This subreddit was banned due to a violation of Reddit’s content policy[1] against creating or repurposing a sub to reconstitute or serve the same objective as a previously banned or quarantined subreddit.
1: https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy
A bot is used to automatically ban subreddits that violate this policy (there is also a bot that bans subreddits that are used for spam automagically).
The problem is right now, unlike the spam filter bot which catches way too little spam, the "ban evasion" bot is catching stuff from everywhere. The criteria for banning a subreddit is... really weak, and makes creating a new subreddit a shot in the dark. In the past month, there have been approximately 21 posts to /r/modhelp about this issue and a few more here, some of which have gotten significant traction.
Many of these subreddits have at least, ostensibly, nothing to do with "banned or quarantined subreddits," even remotely controversial topics, or any coded language, but this is a general problem that's affecting many more moderators, especially as of recently.
I don't have exact numbers to determine how many subreddits are banned for ban or quarantine evasion, but it's definitely increased much more significantly than the actual number of ban evading/quarantine evading subreddits.
So... let's a work on a solution to this.
Comment by Meloetta at 24/07/2020 at 16:07 UTC
32 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I suspect the admins already are. This seems to be a side effect of their huge crackdown on subs just a little while ago.
I don't think we can work on a solution as mods though. We're not privy to the algorithm, for good reason. Any public efforts to improve it will just be roadmaps for those who *do* want to ban evade.
Comment by _11037 at 24/07/2020 at 16:27 UTC
21 upvotes, 1 direct replies
i had a sub (r/FurryMoment) that wasn't ban evading anything get banned out of nowhere in just a few days, with zero explanation given and any attempt at contacting the admins yielded zero response besides the generic copypasta they throw at you to essentially tell you to fuck off
i hope they fix this and unban the wrongfully banned communities
Comment by [deleted] at 24/07/2020 at 21:35 UTC*
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
My subreddits are being spammed by multiple accounts spamming the same subreddit name.. so annoying. Automod rules help somewhat
Comment by TheLamestUsername at 24/07/2020 at 21:50 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Oh I came here hoping this was a solution to ban evading users, not ban evading subs.
/sigh
Comment by [deleted] at 24/07/2020 at 16:47 UTC
8 upvotes, 1 direct replies
[removed]
Comment by BuckRowdy at 25/07/2020 at 11:46 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I had a toolbox logsub banned likely because it had the word *mod* in the name. Still waiting for it to be restored.
Comment by [deleted] at 28/07/2020 at 19:31 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to..." ban a metric butt load of subreddits related to popular topics, even if some other folks don't like them?
So... let's a work on a solution to this.
Kinda seems more along the lines of a "like it or leave it" situation. Or a "this is why we can't have nice things" situation.
Comment by rhubes at 24/07/2020 at 18:36 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I have been waiting over 3 months for the admins to restore the data to our bot after Banning some of my subreddits, and banning the bot. The last message that I got, with someone that had promised to push it through to their engineers previously, saying something about my modmail not working. Which has absolutely nothing to do with missing data....
Comment by HangryHufflepuff1 at 25/07/2020 at 05:53 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I think it's going to be a while
Comment by XxpillowprincessxX at 25/07/2020 at 12:30 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
What’s really funny is that the user brigading other users and subs in this subreddit and others still isn’t banned.