diff --git a/core/chat/chatclient.go b/core/chat/chatclient.go
index 64e850b58..fac4ed491 100644
--- a/core/chat/chatclient.go
+++ b/core/chat/chatclient.go
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ func (c *Client) close() {
 }
 
 func (c *Client) passesRateLimit() bool {
-	return c.rateLimiter.Allow() && !c.inTimeout
+	return c.User.IsModerator() || (c.rateLimiter.Allow() && !c.inTimeout)
 }
 
 func (c *Client) startChatRejectionTimeout() {