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Recently I see through this question:

How to paste text into input fields that block it?

There is a late answer includes a link which it looks to be suspicious:

Post structure

From what I read in other site meta guidelines, using a link to "promote" any product/service without disclosing author's affiliation like that post should be handled as "spam", but the flag declined with this reason:

It's not spam, and that profanity is part of the extension name.

I think this is not related to expletive word as part of extension name given in the post body, I'm more concerned with the link added by the poster which is potentially promoting something outside allowed external resources (i.e. commercial/paid service). Here are what I asked for:

  1. Should I raise another flag when found other posts with similar manner if this is not obviously a "spam", or just do an edit by removing the offending link?

  2. If a flag must be raised for this situation, what is the most proper option I need to choose on flagging dialog?

NB: The corresponding answer had already deleted when I write this post.

1 Answer 1

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I was the moderator who handled that flag.

It's not spam, and that profanity is part of the extension name.

There was also a rude/abusive flag on the post and no spam link when I saw it.

Should I raise another flag when found other posts with similar manner?

You correctly flagged as spam. Please continue to do so.

However:

  • Unfortunately someone edited out the spam link before I handled the flag and I didn't notice the edit. So I declined the flag.

  • If the link had still been in the answer then, of course, I would have validated the flag.

So please accept my apologies.

Should I just do an edit by removing the offending link?

Please don't do that - this is the reason the flag was not handled correctly (see above):

  • Removing spam/abusive text before a question/answer is deleted can affect the automated spam/abuse detection (users will not flag it as spam/abusive). See Should Spam posts be edited?.

  • It can also affect how the flag is handled by a moderator (who will not see the spam link when handling the flag).

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  • Well, I agree moderators are also humans, sometimes we made mistakes. I already accepted your apology & hope we're more careful when handling flags. Commented Jul 18, 2017 at 9:48
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    @TetsuyaYamamoto IMO the user that edited out the spam is more at fault here.
    – Mokubai Mod
    Commented Jul 18, 2017 at 12:18
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    @Mokubai The editor was notified and has also apologised :)
    – DavidPostill Mod
    Commented Jul 18, 2017 at 12:25
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    Can I apologize too? It seems like the thing to do today. Commented Jul 20, 2017 at 18:21
  • @music2myear lol. Why not? :)
    – DavidPostill Mod
    Commented Jul 20, 2017 at 19:18

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