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Abusing the flag button by reporting LLM generated posts and comments (which are not breaking any current guidelines) seems like a good way to get your flags ignored.


Flagging isn’t only in case of breaking the guidelines. From the FAQ:

What does [flagged] mean?

Users flagged the post as breaking the guidelines or otherwise not belonging on HN.

In other words, submissions get flagged that users believe don’t belong on HN. LLM-written submissions can be one such case.


"Not belonging on HN" is an open invitation to flag anything someone disagrees with. Many posts are flagged simply because they express an unpopular opinion.

Community moderation won't fix this problem. It can only be mitigated if the site owners invest significant resources in addressing it. And judging by how little YC actually invests in HN, I wouldn't hold my breath. This website will succumb to this problem just like most others.


https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47290841

It is against the rules though


I would be worried the reason for the flag wasn't _immediately_ obvious. Maybe if there was a drop-down for the rule being violated it would help.


https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47261561 seems like a better source for the policy.


What a bizarre way to run a community. The guidelines make no mention of this "rule," does dang not have the ability to edit them?




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