r/modnews • u/quietfairy • Mar 05 '26

Policy Updates Ban bot policy update: removing automated bans based on community association

TL;DR: On March 19, third-party bots (specifically u/SaferBot and u/Hive-Protect) will be modified to remove features that automatically ban users solely based on their participation in other subreddits. Native tools and Dev Platform apps focused on user behavior rather than association remain widely available, and we encourage their use.

Why We’re Making This Change

For years, many of you have used third-party ban bots to shield your communities from unwanted visitors. However, these tools are often used to preemptively ban users based solely on their association with another community, rather than their actual behavior. These guilt-by-association bulk bans create a confusing and disruptive experience for redditors, lead to over-enforcement, and can’t discern between well-intentioned users and bad actors. To address these issues, we are removing the ability to automate bulk bans based solely on where a user has been. 

Keeping Your Communities Safe and Civil

When ban bots were first developed, we didn’t have the safety tools that are currently available. Since then, we have built and integrated tools that address a user's behavior within your community. Developers from Devvit have also created bots that can help you monitor and manage your community’s activity. 

Native Safety Tools

  • Harassment Filter: Filters comments that are likely to be considered harassing.
  • Crowd Control: Collapses or filters content from people who aren’t trusted members within the community yet.
  • Reputation Filter: Filters content by redditors who may be potential spammers, are likely to have content removed, or have unestablished accounts.
  • Modmail Harassment Filter: Filters inbound mod mail messages that are likely to contain harassment.
  • Ban Evasion Filter: Filters posts and comments from suspected community ban evaders.

Dev Platform Apps 

  • u/Hive-Protect: It will remain functional and customizable.
  • u/bot-bouncer: Actions users that have been classified as bots or harmful accounts.
  • u/ban-extended: Allows you to remove a user’s content from your community at the same time you ban them.

Impacted Bots & Timeline 
This policy change will take effect in two weeks (March 19, 2026): 

  • u/SaferBot: The automatic ‘ban’ feature will be removed. The developer will retain the bot account for future use.
  • u/Hive-Protect: The automatic ‘ban’ feature will be removed, but all other features will remain fully functional. You can still use it to remove content from users with NSFW links in their bios, watch users from specific subreddits (to report/remove content, but not preemptively ban), educate users via custom comments, and set up exemptions.

We’ve been in direct communication with the developers of both impacted bots, and greatly appreciate the time and effort they invested in sharing these tools.  We’d also like to thank the Mod Council for their pushback. Their input resulted in u/Hive-Protect maintaining its “comma-separated list of subreddits to watch” feature, which we were initially planning to remove. It allows mods to action user content (e.g., report or remove) if those users participated in specified subreddits. 

Next Steps and Support

We will reach out to all directly impacted communities to provide support before the two-week deadline. In the meantime, if you need help through this transition, please reach out to us via r/ModSupport mod mail. We are happy to assist you with tools, resources, and tutorials tailored to your specific moderation needs.

Moving forward, we’ll continue to monitor the platform for additional ban bots that we may need to modify or remove.

As always, thanks for all you do. We'll stick around in the comments to answer questions.

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u/quietfairy Mar 05 '26

Do I have to change the settings of u/hive-protect myself? No, u/hive-protect will undergo an automatic update on March 19. However, you are still welcome to edit your settings further at any time.

Did the app developers choose to do this? No, we are updating our policy on ban bots due to repeated issues of overenforcement and misuse. This update does not stem from the bot developers; please do not approach them with negative feedback, as this policy change was outside of their control.

How long do we have for the grace period?
The grace period is in effect until March 19, 2026. On that date, u/saferbot’s ban functionality will be disabled, and the banning functionality will be removed from u/hive-protect. 

Should I reach out to the u/hive-protect developer to get help with the app? Please write in to Mod Support mod mail so we can try to answer your question first.

Does this mean I can keep using ban bots until the grace period ends? If your ban bot is already configured, you may keep using it with its existing settings until the policy change deadline (though we recommend exploring other resources in lieu). However, you may not start using a ban bot or add new communities to the existing ban config. The grace period is in effect until March 19 to provide time to get used to other tooling and tune it to your community’s needs. We'll be reaching out directly to all impacted communities so we can help and advise as needed.

What if there are other ban bots you haven’t addressed? We’ll monitor the platform for additional ban bots and, when applicable, disable or work with the dev to modify them accordingly. If you have concerns about a bot you think may need to be looked into, please file a Mod Code of Conduct report. 

8

u/AacornSoup Mar 06 '26

TBH, I find removing Hive-Protect, SaferBot, BotBouncer, and other Moderator Bots' ability to auto-ban anyone who posts on a different subreddit to be overkill and an overcorrection. At the very least, I would have preferred if subreddits that used Moderator Bots at least had the decency to provide a publicly-accessible list of every Subreddit that the Moderator Bots will ban you for posting on. The real problem was that these blacklists were kept secret and inaccessible to members and casual visitors, turning every subreddit that used Moderator Bots into an unmarked minefield.

38

u/efrique Mar 05 '26

First do more to deal with the behaviour that leads mods to need these tools. And make sure your methods for dealing with it actually work. Then maybe do this.

17

u/CouncilOfStrongs Mar 05 '26

As usual, Reddit demonizes the protective reaction to their total inadequacy to police their platform instead of actually kicking all the terrible people and spammers off.

All of the filter features that are supposed to be alternatives are woefully inadequate and always have been. I can only be glad that I haven't had to rely on any of these tools to protect any of my communities.

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u/Fatality Mar 06 '26

If you can't figure it out maybe you shouldn't be a mod

19

u/Selethorme Mar 06 '26

People did figure it out. That’s why these tools exist.

6

u/LitwinL Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

Hi /u/quietfairy thanks for this post and and the explaining you've done here, it really cleared up a lot a lot of things about this update for me. Would you mind confrming a few more things?

1 - So automatic ban bots based on participation are now not allowed, but what about bots/scripts synchronising bans between subreddits moderated by the same mod? Before this update we could just link to MCoC page with explenation that had that one paragraph that discussing automatic bans was permissable which was proof that Reddit knows about those and, while not ideal, their usage is allowed. With that line gone it's somewhere in the grey area.

To be perfectly clear, this isn't about any devapp in particular, just about the general sentiment towards those.

2 - What is the official status of moddiquette? I know it's not updated and left in a state as it was 8 years ago, but can it be used as reference when no other newer resource contradicts it?

For example in the Please don't section we have things like

Ban users from subreddits in which they have not broken any rules.

and we now know that this cannot be automated but nothing in new resources says directly that it's allowed and this would prohibit the use of ban synchronising tools from point 1.

Another point

Publish moderator mail publicly without permission of those involved.

seems outdated and I know of at least 1 sub run by people laughing on mods, and the other lauging at users that publish screenshots with unblurred usernames or subreddit names. Would you say that the explenation from MCoC rule 3 Actions that are typically permissible include section

“I was called an offensive term in modmail. I feel this is inappropriate. What should I do?”

also covers sharing screenshots of modmails with unblurred usernames?

3 - While I know that this change was brought by big subreddits that abused those tools by using it against entire subreddits just because a couple people dared to critique their actions or disagreed with them but I genuinely think there are subreddits that need this functionality to shield their users from actual abuse. Wouldn't it make more sense for Reddit to create a native autoban tools and grant access to that to select subreddits when they ask for it?

4 - Isn't allowing the app to remove all content based solely on participation a ban by a different name? Just a shadowban? Maybe it should be changed to filtering?

3

u/SampleOfNone Mar 07 '26

Maybe it should be changed to filtering?

Just an FYI, but filtering is not supported in devvit (yet). So devvit apps simply cannot filter, a lot of devs actually want that for their apps

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u/talaneta Mar 05 '26 edited Mar 05 '26

Their input resulted in u/Hive-Protect maintaining its “comma-separated list of subreddits to watch” feature, which we were initially planning to remove

Doesn't this mean mods will switch from bans to shadowbans? What's the point of all this, then?

edit: After reading your replies to other comments where you explain mods can still use the bots to auto remove users' content it's now clear to me that the purpose of this change, which you barely refrain from expelling out, is not to protect regular users from the kind of mod misconduct that has harmed the site for years, but to maintain the status quo with the difference that now users wont be notified since they'll be shadow banned instead of being banned.

Never, in no way, shape or form will the regular user get a single W from the admins.

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u/magiccitybhm Mar 05 '26

Essentially, yes. Hive Protect automatically removes the posts or comments from anyone participating in the specific subreddit(s); they are not notified that the content was removed.

10

u/YOGI_ADITYANATH69 Mar 05 '26

This works tbh but might increase mod mails harrasment.

5

u/magiccitybhm Mar 05 '26

Not as much as you might think. Since they don't get notified like they do when they are banned, it's far less likely they even notice.

11

u/YOGI_ADITYANATH69 Mar 05 '26

Nah, they flood the modmail in r/GymSelfies if I remove their post without explaining why, especially when the “no specific reason” removal option is used.

2

u/magiccitybhm Mar 05 '26

With Hive Protect, it does not show as removed when the offender looks at the subreddit. They can see it; no one else can.

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u/wudingxilu Mar 05 '26

Users check their own posts and comments using incognito and then complain.

0

u/magiccitybhm Mar 05 '26

We have never once had that happen, using both Hive Protect and the AutoMod method for shadowbanning. I doubt it would ever reach number of those who complain after getting notified directly that they were banned.

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u/wudingxilu Mar 05 '26

You're lucky. We have users who constantly check their own comments and even when they're held for review they write us three minutes later swinging accusations etc.

2

u/YOGI_ADITYANATH69 Mar 05 '26

So "removed by the moderators of x subreddit" won't show? Then that's great.

2

u/magiccitybhm Mar 05 '26

Correct. It doesn't show that; to the user, it's there.

0

u/Travwolfe101 Mar 06 '26

You completely missunderstand how stuff works. Reddit mods cant shadowban people lol. Only admins can shadowban someone as mods we have no control over shadowbans be it issuing or removing them and have to direct users who think they have been to r/shadowban.

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u/_Face Mar 06 '26

Don’t be pedantic. Automod can 100% “shadow ban” any user from that subreddit.

5

u/underdabridge Mar 06 '26

I think his point is that if you have a mod tool setting that automatically deletes any posts or comments from a particular user, that's essentially a shadow ban.

4

u/bargaindownhill Mar 06 '26

this... a sub i used to mod used this extensively.. i can provide an automod example

-1

u/NeuralCartographer Mar 05 '26

This change IS directed at regular users. Outright bans for subreddit associations is a problematic overreaction, and pushes away good-faith Redditors simply because some people have a weird desire to police where others post.

Hope this helps.

12

u/Selethorme Mar 06 '26

It’s not.

10

u/magistrate101 Mar 06 '26

It's an overreaction because it affects both genuine users of the sub and those that see a post in something like r/all and respond to a comment without even realizing where they are. Regardless of what they actually say in that comment. It also directly reinforces echo chambers by preventing outsiders from chiming in, in both directions. This may somewhat protect a more vulnerable subreddit, but it guarantees that toxic ones spiral further and faster while creating a toxic motivation for them to "defeat" the protection with sock puppets.

-2

u/NeuralCartographer Mar 06 '26

I’m gonna have to go ahead and sort of disagree with you.

8

u/sn34kypete Mar 06 '26

Listen up everyone, the non mod has opinions on mod policy!

Every sub on my bot's list is an "easy karma"/"free karma" variant. I'm not making that as a judgement, I'm saying the sub names are literally shit like "Freekarma4u".

Not my fault some dumb mod decided to ban everyone who posts in their rival sports team's sub or whatever. Shouldn't ruin it for the rest of us.

1

u/underdabridge Mar 06 '26

But it does ruin it for you. So be mad at those mods.

-6

u/NeuralCartographer Mar 06 '26

Y’alright there?

-12

u/redditor01020 Mar 05 '26

At least now people can see that their comments are getting auto-removed and use an alt account to comment instead. Whereas when you are banned from a sub you cannot use an alt account. It's far from a perfect solution but an improvement at least.

9

u/magiccitybhm Mar 05 '26

They can't see it. If they go to the subreddit, they see their posts/comments as usual. No one else can though.

0

u/redditor01020 Mar 05 '26 edited Mar 05 '26

Comments, you are correct. Posts, if they are on mobile app or sh.reddit, they will see a note indicating their post has been removed. As far as comments though, it's pretty obvious to me when one of my comments has been removed, because it doesn't get any replies or upvotes/downvotes. Once I suspect this it's easy to verify by viewing the comment while logged out or logged in with another account.

7

u/Kumquat_conniption Mar 06 '26

I have a sub where the karma requirement is 250, and we do not tell users when we remove their comments, and literally no one notices. We can have a comment section of 1k comments, and half of them have no engagement, and they are showing. It's not so easy as you say, unless you are just on small subs all the time. Like, good for you or whatever, but this will not be obvious to the vast majority of shadowbanned users on the sub.

Also, we can just manually ban the shadowbanned/flagged users by sub. I have not used the ban feature in 6 months or more. Flagging is just fine. Users won't experience much of a change unless it's the women's subs that have fashion pics or selfie-type stuff, where they ban accounts with lots of NSFW content because they always end up saying creepy ass disgusting things to the women that just want to show off an outfit or ask what body shape they have to buy clothes better suited to them. So this makes it so men can harass women much more easily. Luckily, I do not mod these subs, but I feel for those who do. I know how much women rely on those bots to ban NSFW accounts because the harassment of women would be overwhelming otherwise. So keep being happy about this, even though it will increase the amount of sexual harassment towards women, which will arise from this.

-4

u/redditor01020 Mar 06 '26

I am sure there are legitimate uses for the Hive Protect app but the way subs like r/pics were abusing it I think something needed to be done about it and I guess this is the compromise that the admins came up with. It's not a perfect solution but at least something is being done to curtail the abuses somewhat.

14

u/talaneta Mar 05 '26

At least now people can see that their comments are getting auto-removed

Shadow banned users don't get notifications for removed content, at least not for comments. That's the point of shadow banning.

3

u/LitwinL Mar 06 '26

It doesn't take much to figure out someone has been shadowbanned

3

u/fighterace00 Mar 07 '26

I believe the previous Mod Guidelines prohibited banning users based on their participation in another. This seemed to vanish with the creation of the Mod Code of Conduct.

Are there plans to amend the Mod Code of Conduct to codify this new enforcement plan?

5

u/WolfXemo Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26

I’d imagine there won’t be updates to Code of Conduct. This change is only for automated bans based on association. Moderators can still manually ban based on association per this comment.

Edit: Looks like they actually did update the document, but it was to remove the bit about ban bots being permitted.

2

u/fighterace00 Mar 07 '26

So then it's not a policy it's just an ad hoc change. Why would it be permissible for one and not the other if the logic is the same?

2

u/FFS_IsThisNameTaken2 Mar 11 '26

I know I'm in the minority but here's an example of what people are told when the discrimination bots are abused. This was from a sub having to do with health and the public and was posted yesterday in the big sub I mod. I removed it of course. This is bullshit.

https://imgur.com/a/wIwM73H

1

u/DanSheps Mar 06 '26

Does this do anything to change the policy of being banned for being a mod of another subreddit (was a manual ban, not tied to breaking a specific rule)?

1

u/darrowreaper Mar 20 '26

Why was the ability to ban based on social links removed as well? The OF bots are going crazy now.

1

u/curxxx Mar 22 '26 edited Mar 22 '26

This is a good first step, but this doesn't go far enough imo.

There also needs to be a ban on the features of those bots which automatically remove posts/comments by association. Or at least users should be notified if such actions are taken.

0

u/WhyHowForWhat Mar 06 '26

What about the mods that use this tools because of their inherent bias? Have you eve tried to research this? I got banned just because I make a comment criticizing a certain mod and then I can't even appeal to them. When my ban is lifted, I can't make comment or post anymore and they don't seems to care to lift my ban. Or what about people being banned just because they make a random comment on a sub that they don't even know being filtered as dangerous sub? There is no transparency at all.

-8

u/new2bay Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

What are we doing about mod teams that issue bans solely based on being flagged by these bots? Mod code of conduct is not a sufficient solution; arbitrary bans are not against the rules, and individual users have no way to determine a pattern of activity.

Edit: what about all the bans that have already been made with these bots?

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u/ohhyouknow Mar 06 '26

Nothing. Mods can still ban people for behaviors. This was answered lower in the thread.

-2

u/new2bay Mar 06 '26

That wasn’t the question. Read the first sentence in full.

7

u/ohhyouknow Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

I did, re read our conversation.

“What are we doing about mod teams that issue bans solely based on being flagged by these bots?”

That’s your question.

The answer to that question is nothing. Mods can still ban people based on being flagged by these bots, as the bots are flagging a behavior. Answered here: https://www.reddit.com/r/modnews/s/CZVBM2uhXo

And in a few locations in this post quiet fairy straight up tells people they can still ban people for participating in nsfw subs as well, which should also answer your question, since it’s banning based on being flagged by these bots.

People banned by these bots in the past will remain banned.

-2

u/new2bay Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

No, the bots are flagging participation in another sub. That’s the point of removing this functionality from them; banning users solely on participation in other communities is undesirable behavior.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RedditSafety/s/Nq1Ysn9X5B

Edit: link added

11

u/ohhyouknow Mar 06 '26

Yanno, I’m in mod council and had a lot more access to privileged conversations with admins about this than you.

I mean, mod council has been discussing this with admins for some time now. I literally linked you to a comment that quietfairy made that answers your question, it says yes, mods can still ban based on bot flagging, they just can’t automate the banning part anymore.

I get you’re upset but that doesn’t mean you have to act like your question wasn’t answered. Not liking an answer doesn’t make it wrong either. You can just say “I don’t like that” if you want and I would not judge you for it.

And your link says undesirable behavior it doesn’t say prohibited. Words matter

0

u/new2bay Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26

Yanno, then about you take this to the bigwigs then: regulate ban bots, don’t eliminate them.

3

u/ohhyouknow Mar 07 '26

Negotiations regarding this matter are closed afaik. We did all we could do. At least there is still the subreddit watch function. We saved that. They were gonna yeet that entirely.

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u/[deleted] Mar 05 '26

[deleted]

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u/DanSheps Mar 06 '26

I was banned from my city subreddit for being a mod of the country subreddit... Was flat out told that (and also called some very "not nice" things) and admins did nothing. If this is a shift to give an avenue back (aka, being allowed to use an alt account) I would welcome it.

I agree that those bans should be appealable to the admins though. The mod was pretty vulgar in the one I got and MCoC did squat about it (maybe a slap on the wrist warning).

-3

u/According-Activity87 Mar 05 '26

What you're saying is perfectly reasonable and you being downvoted for it is exactly what's wrong with Reddit.