NIP-09

Event Deletion

draft optional author:scsibug

A special event with kind 5, meaning "deletion" is defined as having a list of one or more e tags, each referencing an event the author is requesting to be deleted.

Each tag entry must contain an "e" event id and/or NIP-33 a tags intended for deletion.

The event's content field MAY contain a text note describing the reason for the deletion.

For example:

{
  "kind": 5,
  "pubkey": <32-bytes hex-encoded public key of the event creator>,
  "tags": [
    ["e", "dcd59..464a2"],
    ["e", "968c5..ad7a4"],
    ["a", "<kind>:<pubkey>:<d-identifier>"]
  ],
  "content": "these posts were published by accident",
  ...other fields
}

Relays SHOULD delete or stop publishing any referenced events that have an identical pubkey as the deletion request. Clients SHOULD hide or otherwise indicate a deletion status for referenced events.

Relays SHOULD continue to publish/share the deletion events indefinitely, as clients may already have the event that's intended to be deleted. Additionally, clients SHOULD broadcast deletion events to other relays which don't have it.

Client Usage

Clients MAY choose to fully hide any events that are referenced by valid deletion events. This includes text notes, direct messages, or other yet-to-be defined event kinds. Alternatively, they MAY show the event along with an icon or other indication that the author has "disowned" the event. The content field MAY also be used to replace the deleted events' own content, although a user interface should clearly indicate that this is a deletion reason, not the original content.

A client MUST validate that each event pubkey referenced in the e tag of the deletion request is identical to the deletion request pubkey, before hiding or deleting any event. Relays can not, in general, perform this validation and should not be treated as authoritative.

Clients display the deletion event itself in any way they choose, e.g., not at all, or with a prominent notice.

Relay Usage

Relays MAY validate that a deletion event only references events that have the same pubkey as the deletion itself, however this is not required since relays may not have knowledge of all referenced events.

Deleting a Deletion

Publishing a deletion event against a deletion has no effect. Clients and relays are not obliged to support "undelete" functionality.