diff --git a/app/controllers/tags_controller.rb b/app/controllers/tags_controller.rb
index f9682c30..0311e652 100644
--- a/app/controllers/tags_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/tags_controller.rb
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ private
     params.require(:tag).permit(
       :tag,
       :description,
+      :permit_by_new_users,
       :privileged,
       :inactive,
       :hotness_mod,
diff --git a/app/models/story.rb b/app/models/story.rb
index 69b311ae..06dd7023 100644
--- a/app/models/story.rb
+++ b/app/models/story.rb
@@ -404,6 +404,11 @@ class Story < ApplicationRecord
         # stories can have inactive tags as long as they existed before
         raise "#{u.username} cannot add inactive tag #{t.tag.tag}"
       end
+
+      if u.is_new? && !t.tag.permit_by_new_users?
+        errors.add(:base, "New users can't submit #{t.tag.tag} stories, please wait. " <<
+          "If the tag is appropriate, leaving it off to skirt this restriction is a bad idea.")
+      end
     end
 
     if self.taggings.reject {|t| t.marked_for_destruction? || t.tag.is_media? }.empty?
diff --git a/app/models/tag.rb b/app/models/tag.rb
index 254905fe..8de9f1c2 100644
--- a/app/models/tag.rb
+++ b/app/models/tag.rb
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ class Tag < ApplicationRecord
                   uniqueness: true, format: { without: /,/ }
   validates :description, length: { maximum: 100 }
   validates :hotness_mod, inclusion: { in: -10..10 }
+  validates :permit_by_new_users, :privileged, inclusion: { in: [true, false] }
 
   scope :active, -> { where(:inactive => false) }
 
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 1b054425..d696aa7b 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -461,6 +461,7 @@ class User < ApplicationRecord
   end
 
   def is_new?
+    return true unless self.created_at # unsaved object; in signup flow or a test
     Time.current - self.created_at <= NEW_USER_DAYS.days
   end
 
diff --git a/app/views/tags/_form.html.erb b/app/views/tags/_form.html.erb
index 894771e6..c32e4a0e 100644
--- a/app/views/tags/_form.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/tags/_form.html.erb
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@
     <%= f.text_field :description %>
   </div>
 
+  <div class="boxline">
+    <%= f.label :permit_by_new_users, 'Permit by new users:' %>
+    <%= f.check_box :permit_by_new_users %>
+  </div>
+
   <div class="boxline">
     <%= f.label :privileged, 'Privileged:' %>
     <%= f.check_box :privileged %>
diff --git a/db/migrate/20200210155624_limit_new_user_tags.rb b/db/migrate/20200210155624_limit_new_user_tags.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0df009d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20200210155624_limit_new_user_tags.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+class LimitNewUserTags < ActiveRecord::Migration[5.2]
+  def change
+    add_column :tags, :permit_by_new_users, :boolean, null: false, default: true
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/schema.rb b/db/schema.rb
index 50af8c64..2ab8a10c 100644
--- a/db/schema.rb
+++ b/db/schema.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #
 # It's strongly recommended that you check this file into your version control system.
 
-ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 2020_02_10_125425) do
+ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 2020_02_10_155624) do
 
   create_table "comments", id: :bigint, unsigned: true, options: "ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4", force: :cascade do |t|
     t.datetime "created_at", null: false
@@ -256,6 +256,7 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 2020_02_10_125425) do
     t.boolean "is_media", default: false
     t.boolean "inactive", default: false
     t.float "hotness_mod", default: 0.0
+    t.boolean "permit_by_new_users", default: true, null: false
     t.index ["tag"], name: "tag", unique: true
   end