LinkThrottling

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As a more special case of EditThrottling to deal specifically with the problem of LinkSpam as experienced through ShotgunSpam, specifically to limit the rate one can add or remove external links. Like any SurgeProtector, this can be either gradual along a smooth curve, or a discrete cut off point (say 10 links per day). The throttle can either be individual or global or both.

Links or diffs submitted can be placed in an AutomaticSandbox until PeerReviewed if losing information is a concern, although this opens the SandBox up to being a spam pit. You could simply break the links in the SandBox (e.g. display as h t t p://usemod.com) or put them through an ExternalRedirect?er or make them NoFollow, although NoFollow is unlikely to dissuade spammers.

Additionally, if you're particularly aggressive, you could put throttled links directly into a BannedContent? list, say in preparation for the PeerToPeerBanList. You could even automatically GlobalRevert all edits by any editor that has crashed through the throttle (a la CitizenArrest). Doing this is inadvisable as a false positive could be disastrous.

Unlike EditThrottling, LinkThrottling is unlikely to interfere with normal editing as most editors do not blast a large number of external URLs. An exception would be when a commonly linked to site (e.g. SlashDot, FlameWarriors) changes its URL structure or domain name. In that case, the throttle will be a huge problem, particularly if you automatically ban and CitizenArrest throttled people.

CategorySpam

LinkThrottling

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