diff --git a/src/service/rooms/event_handler/policy_server.rs b/src/service/rooms/event_handler/policy_server.rs
index 2068dff7..80cb40f2 100644
--- a/src/service/rooms/event_handler/policy_server.rs
+++ b/src/service/rooms/event_handler/policy_server.rs
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ use ruma::{
 ///
 /// If the policy server marks the event as spam, Ok(false) is returned,
 /// otherwise Ok(true) allows the event. If the policy server cannot be
-/// contacted for whatever reason, Err(e) is returned.
+/// contacted for whatever reason, Err(e) is returned, which generally is a
+/// fail-open operation.
 #[implement(super::Service)]
 #[tracing::instrument(skip_all, level = "debug")]
 pub async fn ask_policy_server(&self, pdu: &PduEvent, room_id: &RoomId) -> Result<bool> {
@@ -113,7 +114,7 @@ pub async fn ask_policy_server(&self, pdu: &PduEvent, room_id: &RoomId) -> Resul
 			room_id = %room_id,
 			"Event was marked as spam by policy server",
 		);
-		return Err!(Request(Forbidden("Event was marked as spam by policy server")));
+		return Ok(false);
 	}
 
 	Ok(true)
diff --git a/src/service/rooms/event_handler/upgrade_outlier_pdu.rs b/src/service/rooms/event_handler/upgrade_outlier_pdu.rs
index 17a72f8c..d2e0623c 100644
--- a/src/service/rooms/event_handler/upgrade_outlier_pdu.rs
+++ b/src/service/rooms/event_handler/upgrade_outlier_pdu.rs
@@ -269,7 +269,11 @@ where
 		}
 
 		// Additionally, if this is a redaction for a soft-failed event, we soft-fail it
-		// also
+		// also.
+
+		// TODO: this is supposed to hide redactions from policy servers, however, for
+		// full efficacy it also needs to hide redactions for unknown events. This
+		// needs to be investigated at a later time.
 		if let Some(redact_id) = incoming_pdu.redacts_id(&room_version_id) {
 			debug!(
 				redact_id = %redact_id,