Is there some secret rule to post links here
A user with 6 karma and an account older than 60 days reports that submitted links appear as posted but never show up on the Hacker News "new" page, suggesting a possible undisclosed rule or shadowban mechanism.
Background
- Hacker News (HN) is a social news site run by the startup accelerator Y Combinator, where users submit links and comment. It has strict anti-spam measures, including an invisible "shadowban" (hellban) system.
- When a user or their submissions are "shadowbanned," only they can see their posts — but no one else can. The site appears to work normally for the banned user, so they may not realize they are muted.
- New accounts on HN are heavily rate-limited and filtered. A common reason for shadowbanning is posting a link that the site's software flags as suspicious or spam-like.
- The domain the user tried to share (anitroves.com) is a freshly registered, low-traffic site — such domains are often automatically flagged by HN's spam detection, especially when posted by a new account with low karma.
- To recover from a shadowban, a user typically needs to contact the HN moderators via hn@ycombinator.com, explain the situation, and ask to be reinstated.