it seems that the gab.com instance has an army of spambots that fav/boost random recent statuses on known instances. this is becoming a legitimate argument to impose some restrictions on unfiltered federation. spam/fake user actions (lying for marketing's sake) is a different class than wrongthink (the usual excuse given for banning gab).
i think perhaps doing an instancewide mute may be appropriate if their spam continues. i don't want to deprive anyone who happens to be a user of their scammy service of the ability to easily read/follow me if they wish.