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The problem is, without these measures forums quickly get overrun by spam.

So they use reputation / points / karma / invitations as a proxy for trust.

You don't have the right to demand people's attention. You have to earn that.

These measures aren't the only way to stop spam.

Sure. But they're the cheapest and easiest.

But, if you don't like it, then it is relatively easy to start your own community site. Something like Lemmy or kbin might be suitable for you. Let us know how it goes - and whether you solve the spam problem.

How did you measure that they're the cheapest and easiest? And cheapest and easiest for whom?

I did and I did.

If you already have access to such a great forum, why do you also need access to HN, Reddit, Lobsters etc?

They are "cheapest and easiest" because they're the ones that currently exist. Any other approach would require work on the part of the site owners. If you want them to change that then you're going to have to present a case as to why it's in their interest, not why it's in yours.

Nobody is opposed to you setting up a competing forum with different spam-filtering qualities.

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