Hello everyone!
As you have experienced, our Chat Channel on Telegram has a lot of traffic - and is one of the most, if not the most, active group chats on the platform. As such, it attracts a lot of spammers, scammers, and bad actors who try to instigate chaos and dissent. We’ve experienced that in multiple aspects of our daily lives.
As such, our admin team had to implement some rules. Some are manual, but most are automatic, via our infamous ComBot! This means that some may be caught in the bot’s “fire” or be dragged by an instigator or a troll. We’re doing our best to keep the Chat Group clean, but “to err is human.”
For your convenience, I am posting the general rules that I have encountered by watching the general activity and the ComBot’s logs.
- A member must post at least 3 comments before sending an image or a link
- A member must post at least 10 comments before forwarding a post from a different channel
- Video or audio files are not allowed
- Quick responses (rapid typing) trigger the ComBot and causes the messages to be deleted
- There is an automatic (CAS) blocking when third party services flag an email/number/account - that’s a Telegram thing
- Certain words can trigger the ComBot
- Banter that is out of topic can trigger a block
- Posts must be relevant to Open Source technology
- Any political conversation should be kept to a minimum or it will be considered out-of-topic
- Harassment, scamming or spamming will trigger a block
Also remember, etiquette is something that is required by all members. This is a ground-breaking movement and a lot of people are hesitant in the beginning. Please try to address any concerns in a matter that will not scare people off. That’s what Big-Tech wants. Linux needs some effort to get used to, so support is everything. 
Please respect your fellow human beings!
Thank you all for taking the time to read this!