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Review and quarantine

Every removal, explained.

A removal is not the end of a decision, it is the start of one. Every automated removal opens a case with the full evidence, and a person decides what happens next.

On every case

The reviewer sees exactly what the engine saw.

Score, threshold, every contributing rule, the numbers behind each one, and whether the action was carried out or simulated.

Message excerpts are attached where your retention settings allow. If a rule fired on something that has since been purged, the case says so rather than showing a gap.

Score135over threshold 100
Sample valuesSimulatedRemoved
Every rule that contributed to a score of 135, against a threshold of 100.
RuleRunning totalContribution

Repeated content

duplicate.repeated

The same message had already been posted twice in the last hour.

occurrences
3
window
3,600 s
similarity
97%
across groups
yes

30

+30

Repeated links

link.repeated

The same link appeared in each copy.

domain
promo-signals.example
links
1
occurrences
3

60

+30

Group invite spam

link.invite_spam

An invite link to another WhatsApp group, posted by a member who is not an admin.

invite links
1
invite code
K3f…9pQ

95

+35

Message flooding

flood.burst

Six messages inside the five-second window.

messages
6
window
5 s
limit
5

115

+20

Previous warning

history.prior_warning

Warned nine days ago; the weight has decayed from 30.

prior warnings
1
days since
9
rule weight
30
decayed by
33%

135

+20
Total
threshold 100
135

The score reached 135 against a threshold of 100. The group is in monitor mode, so the member was removed only on paper — nothing changed in WhatsApp.

Two queues

Because they are two different jobs.

A spam case asks “was this fair?”. An inactivity case asks “should this person still be here?”. Putting both in one table with a filter would make a reviewer work out which question they are answering.

Spam

Spam review

Members removed because a rule scored past the removal threshold.

What the reviewer sees

  • The score and the threshold it crossed
  • Every rule that fired, with its weight and evidence
  • Message excerpts, where retention allows
  • Links and domains seen
  • Active strikes against the member
  • Whether the action was carried out or simulated

Decisions offered

  • Restored
  • Kept removed
  • Banned
  • Whitelisted
  • Dismissed
  • Information requested
  • Reclassified
Inactive

Inactive review

Members removed for going quiet past your inactivity limit.

What the reviewer sees

  • Days since the member last took part
  • When they were last observed, and what they did
  • When they joined the group
  • Total messages, and messages in the last 30 and 90 days
  • Warnings already sent, and when
  • Whether they are a group admin

Decisions offered

  • Restored
  • Kept removed
  • Exempted
  • Extended
  • Banned
  • Dismissed

Quarantine

What “moved to a review group” really means.

Nothing here is hidden behind a friendly word. WhatsApp has no atomic move, so Sedge reports each step of the attempt as it goes.

placement

Added

The member was removed from the source group and added to the review group. Both steps succeeded.

placement

Invitation sent

Their privacy settings do not allow being added, so an invitation was sent. Waiting for them to accept.

placement

Failed

The placement could not be completed. The reason is on the case, and the case stays open.

placement

Not attempted

No review group is configured for this queue, so the case lives only in Sedge.

A review group is optional

Plenty of organisations do not want one. Without it, cases still open, evidence is still recorded, and every decision still works — the member simply is not invited anywhere while it is pending.

Decisions

What a moderator can do, and what each one changes.

Restore member
The member is invited back to the group they were removed from.
Keep removed
The removal stands. The member can be restored later from the audit trail.
Ban member
The strongest outcome. Use it for repeat, deliberate abuse.
Whitelist member
Trust offsets future signals for this member by the whitelist rule weight.
Dismiss
Closed with no change to the member.
Request information
A message is sent to the member and the case stays open.
Change classification
The case was recorded under a different reason than the engine chose.

Every decision is written to the audit trail with the reviewer, the time, the note they left and the case it belonged to. An appeal raised later reopens the same evidence rather than starting from nothing.

Nobody is removed without a case.

And no case is closed without a reason attached to it.