@cosullivan Some instances seem to be asking for reports.
I think I've read two such requests just this afternoon.
@gemlog I've blocked sixteen accounts and reported three. I emailed mastodon@mastodon.sdf.org and haven't received a reply. Before the upgrade the Code of Conduct was "be excellent to each other" and I don't see how enabling spambots to use up bandwidth is being excellent. They're not even human so it's not even a difference of opinion, it's just a waste of space and time.
I had to shutdown registrations on the one instance I admin due to the influx of bot accounts.
There are some admins working on a block list but it's at the ISP level and whatnot which isn't ideal but... the sheer volume of accounts created across instances is mind blowing.
@kemonine @cosullivan I'm sure there will be some commonality spotted and a scripted fix to purge them.
I'm stuck though. I use a hosting provider for my one instance with open reg.
I've got a note out to the admin and we'll see how it goes long-term.
I'm just kind strangely/weirdly happy we are important enough to be the target of a coordinated spam bot account problem.
Yay for being important!
🤷
@kemonine @cosullivan
I've had sites since the 90's. Shit happens all the time. There's always a fix or mitigation, dont worry bud! :-)
@kemonine @cosullivan I should hasten to say that I do NOT have a mastodon site. I am the guest of @scroom and @thurloat
I'm not too worried. I shutdown registrations and pointed people to request accounts. I can send invites more easily than playing whack-a-mole with bots creating accounts.
I'll wait for the dust to settle and weigh enabling registrations.
@cosullivan Because I have so many ppl I follow, I don't even look at the local or fed timelines anymore as they are like firehoses and i have a tough time drinking just the ppl i follow to see all their posts.
I ok'd one follow bot by a guy who said he was trying to expand his instance. Fair enough, so I let that go. Haven't seen anything else.
@gemlog I differ between followbots and spambots. I have informed 3 admins about spambots on their instance and all removed them. Often I am followed by spambots. Normal I reply with a 'unfollow request' and sometime it works. Often (about 10 times) I block after a while...
So my problem are follow bots by admins!
@cosullivan
@cosullivan I only discovered my first spambots on my instance this morning.
The only reason I'd wait for a report before removing them is if I hadn't noticed them by myself yet.