So many genuine users shadowbanned

https://www.reddit.com/r/ModSupport/comments/oe09aa/so_many_genuine_users_shadowbanned/

created by [deleted] on 05/07/2021 at 05:06 UTC*

18 upvotes, 6 top-level comments (showing 6)

Anyone else seeing this? We've seen a massive uptick in the last few days with multiple users per day telling us they can't post and it turns out they've been shadowbanned

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One user called /u/jailedinchina was telling us a story in an AMA and got shadowbanned: https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/obft5k/just_got_out_of_ten_months_of_chinese_prison_ama/

Another user got shadowbanned 20 minutes after he started posting: https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/odkg2h/chinese_expat_in_europe_ama/h43ibq2/

Another user managed to appeal his shadowban, but was initially banned: /u/SignificantGiraffe5

Appealed but still initially shadowbanned: /u/Mrhelpfulhatter

/u/MateImBritish shadowbanned

These are all in the last few days

Comments

Comment by alleybetwixt at 05/07/2021 at 10:56 UTC

11 upvotes, 1 direct replies

We've been dealing with this in r/kpophelp for over a year. Massive uptick in shadowbans that doesn't seem to make any sense. When I asked last year, an admin just suggested sending folks to the https://www.reddit.com/appeals[1] link. I've seen some accounts reinstated through that, but I think a lot of people just end up trying to make new accounts.

1: https://www.reddit.com/appeals

Comment by Chtorrr at 05/07/2021 at 16:13 UTC

10 upvotes, 2 direct replies

Hey everyone - this may be related to some of the massive spam waves we have seen recently. I am flagging to safety and if you see anyone who's account looks to have been incorrectly caught please send them to https://www.reddit.com/appeal[1] to let us know.

1: https://www.reddit.com/appeal

Comment by 001Guy001 at 05/07/2021 at 06:20 UTC

4 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Yes I noticed that as well, though the users don't notice it themselves, I inform them after seeing their removed post/comment.

That along with the fact that some legitimate content gets swallowed by the spam filter and isn't automatically rescued by AutoMod (it's been working inconsistently for the past 2 weeks) makes the situation frustrating

Comment by Mrs3anw at 05/07/2021 at 06:57 UTC

5 upvotes, 0 direct replies

The account I use to mod a NSFW sub was shadowbanned, I couldn’t figure out why my mod actions weren’t going through until one of the other mods told me about the ban...I didn’t even think to check mod mail to see if I was banned.

Comment by Janbiya at 05/07/2021 at 10:31 UTC

3 upvotes, 1 direct replies

If a genuine, non-rule violating user discovers that they're shadowbanned and wants to appeal it, what's the correct way to do so? Asking so that I can give them proper advice.

Comment by antihexe at 05/07/2021 at 05:51 UTC*

7 upvotes, 1 direct replies

I actually just came here to ask this.

I've had more users than usual come through shadow banned recently. In fact every time I come across a shadowbanned account it's a legitimate user not a spammer. (One user communicated to me that they had *just* made the account.) Conversely most spam that gets filtered ends up not being shadowbanned despite a flagrant and recent history of spam.

I thought reddit stopped shadowbanning users because it was unethical? Certainly since they implemented the 'new' ban systems I still saw shadowbanned users but I assumed they were grandfathered bans, not new ones.