Published on 12, July, 2020
I've noticed on the forum people are becoming concerned about posts being reported, removed, moderated etc.
I've personally experienced a couple of weeks of this and then the whole weekend being unable to post and then a pop up saying that ALL my posts were being moderated.
After the weekend I was told by the mods that this is a technical issue with an 'oversensitive spam filter'.
If you receive these notices, I suggest you reply, as, as far as I know, our posts aren't automatically reinstated without our appeal.
Obviously some posts could be reported for 'abuse' but if you have posted something uncontroversial and it has been removed, it's likely to be this technical error.
I assumed it was because of the fiery debates that were going on. People were getting vexed and flagging each other.
I've noticed my thread on the lack of dating services for autistic people has mysteriously disapeared from the board. So I found it through my history and the link took me to the thread. Tried to post in it only to be told my post was spam. So it seems threads are now getting shadow banned. Removed from the boards list, new posts auto flagged as spam, but not officially deleated or locked. So to appeal you have to find the thread. Make a post, them appeal that post as not spam.
I had a totally innocuous post "reported" as spam or abuse. I assumed someone had just inadvertently clicked on the wrong button. It was reinstated on appeal, not that I cared in that instance, as it was trivial.Since then I've reported one of my own posts as spam, as I wasn't allowed to delete it. I hoped that might be a way of removing it. I don't think it worked.
Just bumping this.
I've started several threads on this subject over the 2 years I've been here but it's still happening and people are still being disturbed by it.
There seem to be several ways in which the spam filter (it was Akismet) can throw our posts out, including, but not limited to.
a. Quoting from a post more than once.
b. Adding more than one attachment.
c. Adding text from somewhere else.
Unfortunately, we then get an error message saying that we have been reported which we haven't so that's a major stressor for people who have never experienced this before.
I think I just witnessed the filter get Irish's post too, so stay sharp it may still be happening.
Awesome. Hopefully it will be fixed for Debbie and everyone else soon.
Hello Debbie ,
Thankyou for letting us know about this issue and for highlighting this to the community. Sometimes our spam filter may become more sensitive and block posts that should be allowed. Please be assured that our moderation team will review any blocked posts and allow them where they comply with forum rules.
All the best,
ChloeMod
Yeah, that's definitely not your fault. Lately I've been taking to selecting all my text and copying it into the clipboard to save it before I hit post just in case the spam filter instantly goes "nope lol ".
The email I got says:
"Your forum reply, RE: Over sensitive spam filter causing posts to be reported/removed, in Autistic adults was flagged by other users as inappropriate and doesn't appear on the site right now.
Reason: The forum reply was determined to be SPAM (by 'Text Repetition')."
However it happened instantly the moment I hit reply. No way could it have been flagged by other users that quickly
Well I just typed a longer reply including links to the offending posts. However my post has been flagged as spam or abusive
Posting on this discussion seems to have been a bad move...
These are some of the ones that posted last night. I see the links have now been removed by mods but the posts remain. I assume they're bots but could of course be a real human posting the spam. Whatever they are they've successfully dodged the spam filters.
https://community.autism.org.uk/f/adults-on-the-autistic-spectrum/30446/the-sign/278735#278735
https://community.autism.org.uk/f/introduce-yourself/30702/schooling/278736#278736
https://community.autism.org.uk/f/introduce-yourself/30702/schooling/278737#278737
https://community.autism.org.uk/f/adults-on-the-autistic-spectrum/30671/adult-autistic-son-refuses-to-leave-the-house/278734#278734
There are more bots that post too?
I must admit I have only seen the one up til now.
Meanwhile the spam bots are merrily posting away completely unhindered. I noticed quite a few new ones last night.
Maybe the spam filter has gone rogue and is working for the spam bots
Possible mine was lost amongst all my notifications that day. I'll try to keep a look out for it if it happens again, which seems likely as it sounds a recurring bug. I hope it's fixed for you soon, it affects you greater than me. My replies are working ok at the moment.
Courtesy bump for this important subject.
Lol.
I just typed a long reply to this and it's gone into the spam filter.
How ironic is that.
Autonomistic said:It seems that posters such as yourself, who have been posting regularly for months or longer, have been increasingly affected by this touchy spam filter.
Yes, we've noticed that too.
Autonomistic said:Most spam seems to originate from new accounts so why are regular posters being affected by these filters?
Absolutely
Autonomistic said:If existing regular posters continue to be negatively impacted by this they may be driven away from the forum, which would be such a shame.
My anxiety too, and why I posted the thread.
Autonomistic said:I'm sorry that you've been affected so much by this.
Thank you
I'm sorry that you've been affected so much by this. It makes no sense to me that anything you've posted could have been mistaken for spam
It seems that posters such as yourself, who have been posting regularly for months or longer, have been increasingly affected by this touchy spam filter. Something must have changed, as it has only started happening a lot more fairly recently. Thankfully it hasn't happened to me... yet, but I'm sure it is only a matter of time.
Most spam seems to originate from new accounts so why are regular posters being affected by these filters? If existing regular posters continue to be negatively impacted by this they may be driven away from the forum, which would be such a shame.
Debbie,
It's good to read your post this afternoon.
I had a post reported early this morning; I replied and it was quickly quashed by the mods, so not a problem.
Ben
You should get a notification which you click into and then you type your appeal.
Then, at some point, it is reinstated (but you are not told) so it just goes into the thread at the point it would have been.
This means it's not obvious it's gone back into the thread as it will often be behind the new posts of others.
If you don't appeal, I believe it isn't reinstated.