Self-policing, rate limiting online forums

A hardware computer-readable storage medium encoded with executable instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

• receiving, at a server system and from multiple message recipients, notifications that each indicate that a message sent by a particular message sender to the corresponding message recipient was objectionable;
• based on a number of the notifications received for the particular message sender, determining an amount with which to impact a rate limit that governs a rate at which messages sent by the particular message sender are delivered, the determined amount being non-linear with respect to the number of the notifications received for the particular message sender:
• and
• based on the determined amount, adjusting, using a processor, the rate limit which governs the rate at which messages sent by the particular message sender are delivered.

A hardware system for adjusting privileges of a user of a server system, the system comprising:

• at least one processor configured to perform operations comprising:
• receiving, at a server system and from multiple message recipients, notifications that each indicate that a message sent by a particular message sender to the corresponding message recipient was objectionable;
• based on a number of the notifications received for the particular message sender, determining an amount with which to impact a rate limit that governs a rate at which messages sent by the particular message sender are delivered, the determined amount being non-linear with respect to the number of the notifications received for the particular message sender;
• and
• based on the determined amount, adjusting the rate limit which governs the rate at which messages sent by the particular message sender are delivered.