Stopping spam in Telegram channel comments
Comments live in a linked group with its own rules. What to configure so ads stop appearing under every post.
Comments under posts live in a linked group — an ordinary chat where all moderation tools apply. Understanding that solves half the problem.
Why spam goes there
A comment under a fresh post is seen by everyone who came to read. For a spammer that is a free storefront, and joining the chat is usually not required — being a channel subscriber is enough.
What to configure first
A newcomer sandbox. The first hours after joining without links, media or forwards. Spam almost always carries a link, while a real person rarely opens an acquaintance by posting an external address.
A link rule for newcomers. Stricter: no links until the member has written N messages.
Flood control. Five messages in ten seconds is not a conversation. Frequency limits catch what dictionaries miss.
A word list. The classics: “casino”, “investments”, “work from home”. The filter must understand word endings and survive lookalike letters.
What not to do
Disabling comments entirely. That treats the symptom and kills the discussion.
Banning on the first message. A real person who started with a link to their blog gets a permanent ban for a slip — and complains about it in another chat.
Graded steps work better: delete, warn, restrict, ban.
The weekly review
Once a week read the moderation log: it shows which rules fire most often and whether there are false positives. See how it works on the moderation page.