Yes, Primal absolutely engages in content filtering. We filter out spam from all of our feeds. This includes a bunch of pubkeys that post the same note over and over again. We also ensure that pubkeys who actively try to game our trending algorithm with bogus zaps, likes, etc. are no longer able to trend. This is a service to our users. We will soon offer the option where users can set the list of pubkeys that should never get filtered, therefore giving each user the final word on filtering. Given that our entire stack is open sourced under the MIT license, everyone is free to stand up their own clones of Primal and set their own rules. Let the most competent operator win! Finally, the beauty of Nostr is that you don't need to use Primal at all. There are many great alternatives, so all those who don't like the way we run things have other options. At the end of the day, all Nostr clients will compete in providing the highest quality signal to the users and we are here for it. 💜

Replies (24)

Primal has become my go to client on both mobile and desktop. And I tried them all. I only keep Damus and Plebstr on my phone, but Primal - even at this stage - is the best.
> Finally, the beauty of Nostr is that you don't need to use Primal at all. There are many great alternatives And there is absolutely no guarantee that all these alternatives will not use similar censorship methods as implemented in Primal.
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nobody 2 years ago
Far be it from me to tell anyone what to do, but opt-out will always be a guarantee that I will - completely. User sovereignty means opt-in, full disclosure of merhodology, and transparency of process. View quoted note →
So /that/ is why not all my follows show up! Like my RSS feeds i subscribed to. They must've gotten filtered (by accident, in this case). Wouldn't it also be possible to just set up your own cache server and enter it in the Network settings?
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nym 2 years ago
Thanks Primal, you’re doing great work!
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Bogdan Zurac 2 years ago
Fair, but I was mainly asking how would you solve the issue with actual spammers, not your particular case with trending.
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LL62 2 years ago
@ODELL Does this mean that if someone was to repeatedly remind people to "stay humble and stack sats" this would lead to "filtering"? I am not sure how to feel about this...
>We will soon offer the option where users can set the list of pubkeys that should never get filtered, therefore giving each user the final word on filtering. Isn't that what a follow list is for? If I follow a pubkey I want to see its content, regardless of primal's heuristics.
Here comes the rain again, falling on my head like memories, like a new emotion. I wanna walk in the open wind, I wanna talk with you like lovers do. So baby talk to me, like lovers do. image
further the point every one defines spam differently hard coded filters are dumb, the report(flag) system is what works best