(photo credit: PC Sightings)
Dear Readers and Spammers of The Washington Note:
Behind the scenes of the mostly pleasant, civil, constructive discussions that simmer in the comments section of the blog is a hard fought war against spammers.
Nearly every day, a couple of trusted colleagues of mine and I troll through the comments to remove the ads for handbags, gold, watches, and travel that agencies from various spots in Asia, Russia, Arkansas, and Tennessee (yep, I know you are there folks). Some of these ads are designed to look like responses to other posts. Some of them are down right crude and pornographic. Some have implied violence towards other commenters and those who have published on the blog. Some commit serious slander.
But the problem is controlled. Every day, someone is taking the time to enter the captcha requirement — manually — to post this material. And every day, your work will be undone, deleted, and the ISP from whence you operate will be banned. So, up to you.
I want to post this note, because it’s clear to me and my other editors that the anger and frustration of these mostly thwarted spammers is rising as the level of personal attack on some of us has intensified. We can’t always get these comments removed immediately as we are not watching the blog every moment.
Thus — to all other readers — when you see something beyond the innocuous advertisement that really turns your stomach, zap us a note. And to other commenters, please remember that debate is great. Ad hominem attacks are not. Anything that goes over the line will be removed if we see it — or if we receive a complaint.
All best,
Steve Clemons
10 comments on “Shutting Down Spammers — Every Message, Every Day”