Questions are usually protected when there is a slew of non-answers being posted as answers.
Protected questions have the additional restriction that new users are not permitted to answer the question. Unlike locked questions, they can still be edited, commented on, and voted on. You can even vote to close them.
Examples include:
- spam
- Thanks!
- I have the same problem, how can I fix it?
- spam
- I'm too lazy to get rep so I write a comment, so here's an a non-answer for the mods to remove.
- I haven't read the FAQ, so here are more details for my question, posted as answer.
- spam, spam and more spam
Usually in such cases, the question will be protected by a mod, a high rep user (15k and up). The Community user will automatically protect any question where three answers posted by new users have been deleted.
You cannot simply trigger protection via a flag, however, as a real person must accept your request and follow through with protecting the question. However, if you believe a question should be protected, flag for moderator attention and someone will look at it.
