Nostr can benefit from blacklists but it also needs real-time filtering (not whitelists) more than email. Rspamd is a great example with content scanning and local reputation scores.
RBLs work on finite identifiers that have *some* cost. Nostr works on infinite numbers of pubkeys.
This is the approach I am working on with nostr.land, where it combines multiple different types of information. Such as blacklists, historical reputation, but also content analysis, network, etc.
The goal is to make it work for 99% of new users. The other 1% can solve a CAPTCHA and wait a bit.
semisol
npub122…cgrkj
2026-06-08 15:41:57 UTC
in reply to nevent1q…xn5m
Author Public Key
npub12262qa4uhw7u8gdwlgmntqtv7aye8vdcmvszkqwgs0zchel6mz7s6cgrkjPublished at
2026-06-08 15:41:57 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "398a63fac688d9e770bc8fdaa1e04eace438c23c2c40c8a778f16c4e5433949a",
"pubkey": "52b4a076bcbbbdc3a1aefa3735816cf74993b1b8db202b01c883c58be7fad8bd",
"created_at": 1780933317,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"e",
"0000c1fc5f53eb6cd4d6f60892b026db7d901c582c4117dc0ba78df4a5bff026",
"",
"root"
],
[
"e",
"fd8cc717eda058bfebb6449ec7274281e7c6ce4b21c1c2d638e1d2086410076e",
"",
"reply"
],
[
"p",
"e2ccf7cf20403f3f2a4a55b328f0de3be38558a7d5f33632fdaaefc726c1c8eb"
],
[
"p",
"7672c39dd8ac61f16a52f81578bfebdb5f8c70bc5a7277656ab5ba67bb590f58"
],
[
"p",
"466cf4d2117be42022bd6573efd6e9cc863b5c493db6a0db80e5d3b977487370"
],
[
"client",
"Nostur",
"31990:9be0be0fc079548233231614e4e1efc9f28b0db398011efeecf05fe570e5dd33:1685868693432"
]
],
"content": "Nostr can benefit from blacklists but it also needs real-time filtering (not whitelists) more than email. Rspamd is a great example with content scanning and local reputation scores.\n\nRBLs work on finite identifiers that have *some* cost. Nostr works on infinite numbers of pubkeys.\n\nThis is the approach I am working on with nostr.land, where it combines multiple different types of information. Such as blacklists, historical reputation, but also content analysis, network, etc.\nThe goal is to make it work for 99% of new users. The other 1% can solve a CAPTCHA and wait a bit.",
"sig": "399809f962d3d6df5b9e76ccf39cab76ae3c37028070e159fb5648d0e8f3ab408a7f2a1bd4e1d7ef3ca1f7a81de0b4e1d9833f742b203c0fa5addc075f0ac254"
}