I'll admit, I haven't looked at the data, but I don't think there are many times the 6 flag lock limit was used as opposed to a mod dropping in with a binding flag.
Can the limit be dropped to something more in grasp of the current community?
From What are the “spam” and “rude or abusive” (offensive) flags, and how do they work?
The spam flag is designed to eliminate posts with no relevant content and to penalize the authors:
- 3 flags (spam or offensive): post is banished from the front page.
- 6 flags (spam or offensive): post is locked, deleted, and the first revision owner loses 100 reputation.
- 1 flag from a moderator has the same effect as 6 flags from normal users: instant destruction.
- Because a question with 6 flags is locked, a 10k reputation user cannot meaningfully undelete it.
- Each spam flag counts as a downvote for calculating the post's score (it does not affect the user's reputation).