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founded 1 year ago

Aaand... We have our first spam/bot! (kbin.social)

submitted 1 year ago by KnittingTrekker@kbin.social to c/kbinMeta@kbin.social

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Don't really know what the right way to call it is, but someone/some bot is spamming this post everywhere, even in the comments sections:
ttps://youtube.com/watch?v=IE96LokdvH8 We weren’t in the MLS at 35

EDIT: it even spammed in this comment section

top 9 comments

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[–] bobfinger@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Just block him, that pretty much solves it

[–] IShowRonaldo@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How do u block this spammer he’s really annoyin bro

[–] Goathound@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Great question! Hover over the name IShowRonaldo and wait for the popup window, or click to visit their profile, then simply click the symbol to the right of the "Follow" button. Glad you asked, hope this helps everyone! I wasn't sure how to do it until now, good time to learn as ever.

[–] eatmoregreenfood@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Did block. Still annoying. What is the kbin solution for obvious spam bots? If say the instance gets overran you can't block a thousand accounts and still use the medium effectively. There has to be some sort of back end oversight on this

[–] ernest@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

An admin can ban such an account or clear its content. The admin can "delete" an account, in which case all posts are erased, but replies from other users in the threads remain. They can also "purge" an account, in which case all posts, along with replies, and all actions are completely purged.

I am also considering a change in the Roadmap and replacing one of the points with improving moderation tools and implementing basic anti-spam protection or early warning alerts. I didn't realize it would be so significant at this stage either ;)

[–] -spam-@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

As long as my account doesn't get nuked haha

[–] meldroc@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Definitely, asshole control is necessary. Do Fediverse instances have ways to exchange block lists? Or mutually agree not to pass on posts flagged as spam, hate, etc.?

[–] ox@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Calling it a "bot" might be giving the person too much credit.

This is clearly some kid copy/pasting the same message over and over, without giving any thought to the situation. Given the behaviour he showcase, I highly doubt he would be able of creating an automated solution, run completely autonomously.

People like him, and others with childish behaviour, is bound to find their way to instances across the fediverse. The only solution to this is to turn the blind eye, which will make them lose interest, and move other places.

While I am just as annoyed as anyone else, mainly for him to waste compute-resources, I don't believe in outright banning. That would quickly become a slippery slope, potentially to justify silencing views you don't agree with, and restricting freedom of speech.

The best solution is just to ignore. Blocking works great for this tactic.

[–] BaconIsAVeg@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

That would quickly become a slippery slope, potentially to justify silencing views you don't agree with, and restricting freedom of speech.

Banning someone for violating the Terms of Service is not a 'free speech' violation.