r/bugs 26d ago

Dev/Admin Responded [Android] [iOS] (but actually [Backend]) New criteria modal code has incorrect logical condition interpretation of automoderator config, incorrectly preventing users from posting in subreddits

Recently a new feature was announced that tells users trying to make a post that they don't meet the post requirements for a subreddit, and redirects them to a community in which they can post. Great, except it has a bug.

A subreddit I moderate has a rule which is:

author:
    comment_subreddit_karma: "<[REDACTED]"
    account_age: "< [REDACTED]"
action: remove

A user was told that although they have 711 comment karma in rarepuppers, they can't post because their account age is too young (at X months old). I assume this is happening to all users of the same UI, the reddit app.

The above requirement, converted to logic, is

(comment karma low) AND (age too young) then remove.

The logical inverse of that (the do not remove condition) is

(comment karma high enough) OR (age old enough) then do not remove.

The code being used to determine which users should post elsewhere is incorrectly interpreting grouped cases, which are logical ANDs, as logical ORs, and forcing users to post elsewhere. This is a bug! This explains the notable downtick in posts we've seen. Users with plenty of comment karma, who are exempt from the rule, are now being told (incorrectly) that they can't post, and are being forced to post elsewhere.

This is a backend issue, in that the code that interprets the automoderator rules is bugged. But it shows to users on the reddit app, and any other surface where Criteria Modal is being used.

In case there's some script being used to interpret these--

  • Description: Users of the reddit app are being told they can't post to our subreddit because they don't meet both of two requirements. However, they should only be told that they can't post if they don't meet at least one of two requirements

  • Platform and version: Reddit app iOS version 2024.47.0

  • Steps to reproduce: User tries to post to subreddit while not meeting both of an automoderator criteria. So on rarepuppers, a new account that has comment karma.

  • Expected and actual result: Expected: user can post. Actual: user being prevented from posting.

  • Screenshot(s) or a screen recording: N/A see extended description above.

3 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

u/RyeCheww 24d ago

Thanks for your patience while the teams looked into this. The experiment that helps new users contribute by surfacing a pop-up if they do not meet specific posting criteria has ended for desktop and iOS users. The experiment will remain on Android until December 5th, so the team can gather more insights from this post-creation flow update.

There is a bug where users were prevented from posting that met the specific posting criteria in some communities. The team has identified the issues and are working on fixes. We're sorry for the confusion it caused for you and members of your community.

More details about the pop-up can be seen in the r/modnews post, this feature is meant to help new redditors find the right spaces to post (and thus reduce subreddit rule-violating posts).

→ More replies (5)

3

u/Merari01 26d ago edited 26d ago

Users should never be prevented from posting anyway due to automod code because a filter is just that. Mods can choose to overrule it on request.

That is another thing that needs fixing, please stop preventing users from posting

We use remove instead of filter on high-volume subreddits to reduce queue pressure. A user can modmail asking for manual approval. A spambot will not.

This modal is going to force us to remove karma thresholds, leading to spam.

1

u/SolariaHues 22d ago

They stopped it from working if the rule is a filter and not a removal https://www.reddit.com/r/modnews/comments/1gqowid/comment/lx525cz/

For the removal and then modmail review situation, that's a good point. I do like the idea of this thing to help noobs, but perhaps mods need some control over it. Do you see a way it could work for you?

2

u/Merari01 22d ago

The modal is completely turned off now as they bugfix, so that's good.

But on a sub with the traffic that mildlyinfuriating has it's not feasible to use filter instead of remove for our karma/ age rule.

1

u/SolariaHues 22d ago

Sure. If it could be set not to prevent posting but only notify, like automations can do, would that be viable?

I'm just hoping there's a way for everyone to win here :)

2

u/Merari01 22d ago

Yes, absolutely, that would be perfect.

If a user can be told "your content will likely be filtered, but please press post to post anyway" then that would be a great help.

They could even tell people to modmail us, though I would advise not to include an actual link to modmail because of the higher chance spam bot operators will automate a modmail to us via that.

2

u/SolariaHues 22d ago

Great :D

That sounds good to me. At least the user knows what the situation is, and bots won't pay it any attention anyway, post and be auto-removed.

u/lift_ticket83, are you the right person to make sure sees the above feedback and potential solution?

2

u/Ashilikia 26d ago

/u/lift_ticket83 FYI this is the "official" bug report

3

u/lift_ticket83 25d ago

Thank you for flagging this. I've alerted the broader team and they're looking into what might be causing this issue.

1

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