diff --git a/internal/ap/normalize.go b/internal/ap/normalize.go
index 5b88d9085..ffe90733c 100644
--- a/internal/ap/normalize.go
+++ b/internal/ap/normalize.go
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ func NormalizeIncomingName(item WithName, rawJSON map[string]interface{}) {
 	//
 	// todo: We probably want to update this to allow
 	// *escaped* HTML markup, but for now just nuke it.
-	name = text.RemoveHTML(name)
+	name = text.StripHTMLFromText(name)
 
 	// Set normalized name property from the raw string; this
 	// will replace any existing name property on the item.
diff --git a/internal/api/util/opengraph.go b/internal/api/util/opengraph.go
index 121f29595..770bada83 100644
--- a/internal/api/util/opengraph.go
+++ b/internal/api/util/opengraph.go
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ func OGBase(instance *apimodel.InstanceV1) *OGMeta {
 	}
 
 	og := &OGMeta{
-		Title:       text.RemoveHTML(instance.Title) + " - GoToSocial",
+		Title:       text.StripHTMLFromText(instance.Title) + " - GoToSocial",
 		Type:        "website",
 		Locale:      locale,
 		URL:         instance.URI,
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ func AccountTitle(account *apimodel.WebAccount, accountDomain string) string {
 // ParseDescription returns a string description which is
 // safe to use as a template.HTMLAttr inside templates.
 func ParseDescription(in string) string {
-	i := text.RemoveHTML(in)
+	i := text.StripHTMLFromText(in)
 	i = strings.ReplaceAll(i, "\n", " ")
 	i = strings.Join(strings.Fields(i), " ")
 	i = html.EscapeString(i)
diff --git a/internal/processing/account/update.go b/internal/processing/account/update.go
index e65589fc5..3a59dbdf3 100644
--- a/internal/processing/account/update.go
+++ b/internal/processing/account/update.go
@@ -97,8 +97,8 @@ func (p *Processor) Update(ctx context.Context, account *gtsmodel.Account, form
 			return nil, gtserror.NewErrorBadRequest(err, err.Error())
 		}
 
-		// Parse new display name (always from plaintext).
-		account.DisplayName = text.RemoveHTML(displayName)
+		// HTML tags not allowed in display name.
+		account.DisplayName = text.StripHTMLFromText(displayName)
 		acctColumns = append(acctColumns, "display_name")
 	}
 
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ func (p *Processor) Update(ctx context.Context, account *gtsmodel.Account, form
 	}
 
 	if form.AvatarDescription != nil {
-		desc := text.RemoveHTML(*form.AvatarDescription)
+		desc := text.StripHTMLFromText(*form.AvatarDescription)
 		form.AvatarDescription = &desc
 	}
 
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ func (p *Processor) Update(ctx context.Context, account *gtsmodel.Account, form
 	}
 
 	if form.HeaderDescription != nil {
-		desc := text.RemoveHTML(*form.HeaderDescription)
+		desc := text.StripHTMLFromText(*form.HeaderDescription)
 		form.HeaderDescription = util.Ptr(desc)
 	}
 
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ func (p *Processor) Update(ctx context.Context, account *gtsmodel.Account, form
 			return nil, gtserror.NewErrorBadRequest(err, err.Error())
 		}
 
-		account.Settings.CustomCSS = text.RemoveHTML(customCSS)
+		account.Settings.CustomCSS = text.StripHTMLFromText(customCSS)
 		settingsColumns = append(settingsColumns, "custom_css")
 	}
 
@@ -356,8 +356,8 @@ func (p *Processor) updateFields(
 
 		// Sanitize raw field values.
 		fieldRaw := &gtsmodel.Field{
-			Name:  text.RemoveHTML(name),
-			Value: text.RemoveHTML(value),
+			Name:  text.StripHTMLFromText(name),
+			Value: text.StripHTMLFromText(value),
 		}
 		fieldsRaw = append(fieldsRaw, fieldRaw)
 	}
diff --git a/internal/processing/admin/domainallow.go b/internal/processing/admin/domainallow.go
index d752ef202..02101ccff 100644
--- a/internal/processing/admin/domainallow.go
+++ b/internal/processing/admin/domainallow.go
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ func (p *Processor) createDomainAllow(
 			ID:                 id.NewULID(),
 			Domain:             domain,
 			CreatedByAccountID: adminAcct.ID,
-			PrivateComment:     text.RemoveHTML(privateComment),
-			PublicComment:      text.RemoveHTML(publicComment),
+			PrivateComment:     text.StripHTMLFromText(privateComment),
+			PublicComment:      text.StripHTMLFromText(publicComment),
 			Obfuscate:          &obfuscate,
 			SubscriptionID:     subscriptionID,
 		}
diff --git a/internal/processing/admin/domainblock.go b/internal/processing/admin/domainblock.go
index 62a6d5fea..249df744c 100644
--- a/internal/processing/admin/domainblock.go
+++ b/internal/processing/admin/domainblock.go
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ func (p *Processor) createDomainBlock(
 			ID:                 id.NewULID(),
 			Domain:             domain,
 			CreatedByAccountID: adminAcct.ID,
-			PrivateComment:     text.RemoveHTML(privateComment),
-			PublicComment:      text.RemoveHTML(publicComment),
+			PrivateComment:     text.StripHTMLFromText(privateComment),
+			PublicComment:      text.StripHTMLFromText(publicComment),
 			Obfuscate:          &obfuscate,
 			SubscriptionID:     subscriptionID,
 		}
diff --git a/internal/processing/instance.go b/internal/processing/instance.go
index 62a1685a0..4cbbb742a 100644
--- a/internal/processing/instance.go
+++ b/internal/processing/instance.go
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ func (p *Processor) InstancePatch(ctx context.Context, form *apimodel.InstanceSe
 		}
 
 		// Don't allow html in site title.
-		instance.Title = text.RemoveHTML(title)
+		instance.Title = text.StripHTMLFromText(title)
 		columns = append(columns, "title")
 	}
 
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ func (p *Processor) InstancePatch(ctx context.Context, form *apimodel.InstanceSe
 			return nil, gtserror.NewErrorBadRequest(err, err.Error())
 		}
 
-		instance.CustomCSS = text.RemoveHTML(customCSS)
+		instance.CustomCSS = text.StripHTMLFromText(customCSS)
 		columns = append(columns, []string{"custom_css"}...)
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/processing/media/update.go b/internal/processing/media/update.go
index 1eaa74764..5afa5d63c 100644
--- a/internal/processing/media/update.go
+++ b/internal/processing/media/update.go
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ func (p *Processor) Update(ctx context.Context, account *gtsmodel.Account, media
 
 // processDescription will sanitize and valid description against server configuration.
 func processDescription(description string) (string, gtserror.WithCode) {
-	description = text.RemoveHTML(description)
+	description = text.StripHTMLFromText(description)
 	chars := len([]rune(description))
 
 	if min := config.GetMediaDescriptionMinChars(); chars < min {
diff --git a/internal/processing/status/common.go b/internal/processing/status/common.go
index 56adcc4a8..77058ed10 100644
--- a/internal/processing/status/common.go
+++ b/internal/processing/status/common.go
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ func (p *Processor) processContent(
 			// Strip each poll option and format.
 			//
 			// For polls just use basic formatting.
-			option = text.RemoveHTML(option)
+			option = text.StripHTMLFromText(option)
 			optionRes := formatInput(p.formatter.FromPlainBasic, option)
 
 			// Gather results of the formatted.
diff --git a/internal/processing/user/create.go b/internal/processing/user/create.go
index fb7188ab9..dde69a6ef 100644
--- a/internal/processing/user/create.go
+++ b/internal/processing/user/create.go
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ func (p *Processor) Create(
 		Username: form.Username,
 		Email:    form.Email,
 		Password: form.Password,
-		Reason:   text.RemoveHTML(reason),
+		Reason:   text.StripHTMLFromText(reason),
 		SignUpIP: form.IP,
 		Locale:   form.Locale,
 		AppID:    app.ID,
diff --git a/internal/text/plain.go b/internal/text/plain.go
index 246d0001c..ee4947bf7 100644
--- a/internal/text/plain.go
+++ b/internal/text/plain.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ package text
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
+	gohtml "html"
 	"strings"
 
 	"codeberg.org/gruf/go-byteutil"
@@ -193,9 +194,22 @@ func (f *Formatter) fromPlain(
 	return result
 }
 
-// HTMLToPlain parses the given HTML and then outputs
-// it to close-as-possible equivalent plaintext.
-func HTMLToPlain(html string) string {
+// ParseHTMLToPlain parses the given HTML string, then
+// outputs it to equivalent plaintext while trying to
+// keep as much of the smenantic intent of the input
+// HTML as possible, ie., titles are placed on separate
+// lines, `<br>`s are converted to newlines, text inside
+// `<strong>` and `<em>` tags is retained, but without
+// emphasis, `<a>` links are unnested and the URL they
+// link to is placed in angle brackets next to them,
+// lists are replaced with newline-separated indented
+// items, etc.
+//
+// This function is useful when you need to filter on
+// HTML and want to avoid catching tags in the filter,
+// or when you want to serve something in a plaintext
+// format that may contain HTML tags (eg., CWs).
+func ParseHTMLToPlain(html string) string {
 	plain := html2text.HTML2TextWithOptions(
 		html,
 		html2text.WithLinksInnerText(),
@@ -204,3 +218,21 @@ func HTMLToPlain(html string) string {
 	)
 	return strings.TrimSpace(plain)
 }
+
+// StripHTMLFromText runs text through strict sanitization
+// to completely remove any HTML from the input without
+// trying to preserve the semantic intent of any HTML tags.
+//
+// This is useful in cases where the input was not allowed
+// to contain HTML at all, and the output isn't either.
+func StripHTMLFromText(text string) string {
+	// Unescape first to catch any tricky critters.
+	content := gohtml.UnescapeString(text)
+
+	// Remove all detected HTML.
+	content = strict.Sanitize(content)
+
+	// Unescape again to return plaintext.
+	content = gohtml.UnescapeString(content)
+	return strings.TrimSpace(content)
+}
diff --git a/internal/text/plain_test.go b/internal/text/plain_test.go
index 3f43d987a..cb8f4677e 100644
--- a/internal/text/plain_test.go
+++ b/internal/text/plain_test.go
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ func (suite *PlainTestSuite) TestNumbersAreNotHashtags() {
 	suite.Len(f.Tags, 0)
 }
 
-func (suite *PlainTestSuite) TestHTMLToPlain() {
+func (suite *PlainTestSuite) TestParseHTMLToPlain() {
 	for _, t := range []struct {
 		html          string
 		expectedPlain string
@@ -246,11 +246,88 @@ See the domain permission subscription documentation <https://docs.gotosocial.or
 Thanks for reading! And seriously back up your database.`,
 		},
 	} {
-		plain := text.HTMLToPlain(t.html)
+		plain := text.ParseHTMLToPlain(t.html)
 		suite.Equal(t.expectedPlain, plain)
 	}
 }
 
+func (suite *PlainTestSuite) TestStripCaption1() {
+	dodgyCaption := "<script>console.log('haha!')</script>this is just a normal caption ;)"
+	stripped := text.StripHTMLFromText(dodgyCaption)
+	suite.Equal("this is just a normal caption ;)", stripped)
+}
+
+func (suite *PlainTestSuite) TestStripCaption2() {
+	dodgyCaption := "<em>here's a LOUD caption</em>"
+	stripped := text.StripHTMLFromText(dodgyCaption)
+	suite.Equal("here's a LOUD caption", stripped)
+}
+
+func (suite *PlainTestSuite) TestStripCaption3() {
+	dodgyCaption := ""
+	stripped := text.StripHTMLFromText(dodgyCaption)
+	suite.Equal("", stripped)
+}
+
+func (suite *PlainTestSuite) TestStripCaption4() {
+	dodgyCaption := `
+
+
+here is
+a multi line
+caption
+with some newlines
+
+
+
+`
+	stripped := text.StripHTMLFromText(dodgyCaption)
+	suite.Equal("here is\na multi line\ncaption\nwith some newlines", stripped)
+}
+
+func (suite *PlainTestSuite) TestStripCaption5() {
+	// html-escaped: "<script>console.log('aha!')</script> hello world"
+	dodgyCaption := `&lt;script&gt;console.log(&apos;aha!&apos;)&lt;/script&gt; hello world`
+	stripped := text.StripHTMLFromText(dodgyCaption)
+	suite.Equal("hello world", stripped)
+}
+
+func (suite *PlainTestSuite) TestStripCaption6() {
+	// html-encoded: "<script>console.log('aha!')</script> hello world"
+	dodgyCaption := `&lt;&#115;&#99;&#114;&#105;&#112;&#116;&gt;&#99;&#111;&#110;&#115;&#111;&#108;&#101;&period;&#108;&#111;&#103;&lpar;&apos;&#97;&#104;&#97;&excl;&apos;&rpar;&lt;&sol;&#115;&#99;&#114;&#105;&#112;&#116;&gt;&#32;&#104;&#101;&#108;&#108;&#111;&#32;&#119;&#111;&#114;&#108;&#100;`
+	stripped := text.StripHTMLFromText(dodgyCaption)
+	suite.Equal("hello world", stripped)
+}
+
+func (suite *PlainTestSuite) TestStripCustomCSS() {
+	customCSS := `.toot .username {
+	color: var(--link_fg);
+	line-height: 2rem;
+	margin-top: -0.5rem;
+	align-self: start;
+	
+	white-space: nowrap;
+	overflow: hidden;
+	text-overflow: ellipsis;
+}`
+	stripped := text.StripHTMLFromText(customCSS)
+	suite.Equal(customCSS, stripped) // should be the same as it was before
+}
+
+func (suite *PlainTestSuite) TestStripNaughtyCustomCSS1() {
+	// try to break out of <style> into <head> and change the document title
+	customCSS := "</style><title>pee pee poo poo</title><style>"
+	stripped := text.StripHTMLFromText(customCSS)
+	suite.Empty(stripped)
+}
+
+func (suite *PlainTestSuite) TestStripNaughtyCustomCSS2() {
+	// try to break out of <style> into <head> and change the document title
+	customCSS := "pee pee poo poo</style><title></title><style>"
+	stripped := text.StripHTMLFromText(customCSS)
+	suite.Equal("pee pee poo poo", stripped)
+}
+
 func TestPlainTestSuite(t *testing.T) {
 	suite.Run(t, new(PlainTestSuite))
 }
diff --git a/internal/text/sanitize.go b/internal/text/sanitize.go
index b532bec9a..29e1df1d8 100644
--- a/internal/text/sanitize.go
+++ b/internal/text/sanitize.go
@@ -18,9 +18,7 @@
 package text
 
 import (
-	"html"
 	"regexp"
-	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/microcosm-cc/bluemonday"
 )
@@ -165,21 +163,8 @@ var strict *bluemonday.Policy = bluemonday.StrictPolicy()
 
 // SanitizeHTML sanitizes only risky html elements
 // from the given string, allowing safe ones through.
-func SanitizeHTML(in string) string {
-	return regular.Sanitize(in)
-}
-
-// RemoveHTML runs text through strict sanitization.
-// This removes any html elements that were in the
-// string, and returns pruned plaintext.
-func RemoveHTML(in string) string {
-	// Unescape first to catch any tricky critters.
-	content := html.UnescapeString(in)
-
-	// Remove all detected HTML.
-	content = strict.Sanitize(content)
-
-	// Unescape again to return plaintext.
-	content = html.UnescapeString(content)
-	return strings.TrimSpace(content)
+//
+// It returns an HTML string.
+func SanitizeHTML(html string) string {
+	return regular.Sanitize(html)
 }
diff --git a/internal/text/sanitize_test.go b/internal/text/sanitize_test.go
index 68f9fefce..773713353 100644
--- a/internal/text/sanitize_test.go
+++ b/internal/text/sanitize_test.go
@@ -45,83 +45,6 @@ func (suite *SanitizeTestSuite) TestSanitizeHTML() {
 	suite.Equal(sanitizedHTML, s)
 }
 
-func (suite *SanitizeTestSuite) TestSanitizeCaption1() {
-	dodgyCaption := "<script>console.log('haha!')</script>this is just a normal caption ;)"
-	sanitized := text.RemoveHTML(dodgyCaption)
-	suite.Equal("this is just a normal caption ;)", sanitized)
-}
-
-func (suite *SanitizeTestSuite) TestSanitizeCaption2() {
-	dodgyCaption := "<em>here's a LOUD caption</em>"
-	sanitized := text.RemoveHTML(dodgyCaption)
-	suite.Equal("here's a LOUD caption", sanitized)
-}
-
-func (suite *SanitizeTestSuite) TestSanitizeCaption3() {
-	dodgyCaption := ""
-	sanitized := text.RemoveHTML(dodgyCaption)
-	suite.Equal("", sanitized)
-}
-
-func (suite *SanitizeTestSuite) TestSanitizeCaption4() {
-	dodgyCaption := `
-
-
-here is
-a multi line
-caption
-with some newlines
-
-
-
-`
-	sanitized := text.RemoveHTML(dodgyCaption)
-	suite.Equal("here is\na multi line\ncaption\nwith some newlines", sanitized)
-}
-
-func (suite *SanitizeTestSuite) TestSanitizeCaption5() {
-	// html-escaped: "<script>console.log('aha!')</script> hello world"
-	dodgyCaption := `&lt;script&gt;console.log(&apos;aha!&apos;)&lt;/script&gt; hello world`
-	sanitized := text.RemoveHTML(dodgyCaption)
-	suite.Equal("hello world", sanitized)
-}
-
-func (suite *SanitizeTestSuite) TestSanitizeCaption6() {
-	// html-encoded: "<script>console.log('aha!')</script> hello world"
-	dodgyCaption := `&lt;&#115;&#99;&#114;&#105;&#112;&#116;&gt;&#99;&#111;&#110;&#115;&#111;&#108;&#101;&period;&#108;&#111;&#103;&lpar;&apos;&#97;&#104;&#97;&excl;&apos;&rpar;&lt;&sol;&#115;&#99;&#114;&#105;&#112;&#116;&gt;&#32;&#104;&#101;&#108;&#108;&#111;&#32;&#119;&#111;&#114;&#108;&#100;`
-	sanitized := text.RemoveHTML(dodgyCaption)
-	suite.Equal("hello world", sanitized)
-}
-
-func (suite *SanitizeTestSuite) TestSanitizeCustomCSS() {
-	customCSS := `.toot .username {
-	color: var(--link_fg);
-	line-height: 2rem;
-	margin-top: -0.5rem;
-	align-self: start;
-	
-	white-space: nowrap;
-	overflow: hidden;
-	text-overflow: ellipsis;
-}`
-	sanitized := text.RemoveHTML(customCSS)
-	suite.Equal(customCSS, sanitized) // should be the same as it was before
-}
-
-func (suite *SanitizeTestSuite) TestSanitizeNaughtyCustomCSS1() {
-	// try to break out of <style> into <head> and change the document title
-	customCSS := "</style><title>pee pee poo poo</title><style>"
-	sanitized := text.RemoveHTML(customCSS)
-	suite.Empty(sanitized)
-}
-
-func (suite *SanitizeTestSuite) TestSanitizeNaughtyCustomCSS2() {
-	// try to break out of <style> into <head> and change the document title
-	customCSS := "pee pee poo poo</style><title></title><style>"
-	sanitized := text.RemoveHTML(customCSS)
-	suite.Equal("pee pee poo poo", sanitized)
-}
-
 func (suite *SanitizeTestSuite) TestSanitizeInlineImg() {
 	withInlineImg := "<p>Here's an inline image: <img class=\"fixed-size-img svelte-uci8eb\" aria-hidden=\"false\" alt=\"A black-and-white photo of an Oblique Strategy card. The card reads: 'Define an area as 'safe' and use it as an anchor'.\" title=\"A black-and-white photo of an Oblique Strategy card. The card reads: 'Define an area as 'safe' and use it as an anchor'.\" width=\"0\" height=\"0\" src=\"https://example.org/fileserver/01H7J83147QMCE17C0RS9P10Y9/attachment/small/01H7J8365XXRTCP6CAMGEM49ZE.jpg\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%;\"></p>"
 	sanitized := text.SanitizeHTML(withInlineImg)
diff --git a/internal/typeutils/internaltofrontend.go b/internal/typeutils/internaltofrontend.go
index 81ee98863..537eeb6db 100644
--- a/internal/typeutils/internaltofrontend.go
+++ b/internal/typeutils/internaltofrontend.go
@@ -1376,7 +1376,6 @@ func (c *Converter) baseStatusToFrontend(
 		InReplyToID:        nil, // Set below.
 		InReplyToAccountID: nil, // Set below.
 		Sensitive:          *s.Sensitive,
-		SpoilerText:        text.HTMLToPlain(s.ContentWarning),
 		Visibility:         c.VisToAPIVis(ctx, s.Visibility),
 		LocalOnly:          s.IsLocalOnly(),
 		Language:           nil, // Set below.
@@ -1397,6 +1396,11 @@ func (c *Converter) baseStatusToFrontend(
 		Text:               s.Text,
 		ContentType:        ContentTypeToAPIContentType(s.ContentType),
 		InteractionPolicy:  *apiInteractionPolicy,
+
+		// Mastodon API says spoiler_text should be *text*, not HTML, so
+		// parse any HTML back to plaintext when serializing via the API,
+		// attempting to preserve semantic intent to keep it readable.
+		SpoilerText: text.ParseHTMLToPlain(s.ContentWarning),
 	}
 
 	if at := s.EditedAt; !at.IsZero() {
diff --git a/internal/typeutils/util.go b/internal/typeutils/util.go
index 61ff0d595..17394fe49 100644
--- a/internal/typeutils/util.go
+++ b/internal/typeutils/util.go
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ func filterableFields(s *gtsmodel.Status) []string {
 	// remove markdown-formatting characters
 	// and ensure more consistent filtering.
 	if s.Content != "" {
-		text := text.HTMLToPlain(s.Content)
+		text := text.ParseHTMLToPlain(s.Content)
 		if text != "" {
 			fields = append(fields, text)
 		}
diff --git a/internal/webpush/realsender.go b/internal/webpush/realsender.go
index 6bca92205..d2aeaf763 100644
--- a/internal/webpush/realsender.go
+++ b/internal/webpush/realsender.go
@@ -361,10 +361,10 @@ func formatNotificationBody(apiNotification *apimodel.Notification) string {
 		if apiNotification.Status.SpoilerText != "" {
 			body = apiNotification.Status.SpoilerText
 		} else {
-			body = text.RemoveHTML(apiNotification.Status.Content)
+			body = text.StripHTMLFromText(apiNotification.Status.Content)
 		}
 	} else {
-		body = text.RemoveHTML(apiNotification.Account.Note)
+		body = text.StripHTMLFromText(apiNotification.Account.Note)
 	}
 	return firstNBytesTrimSpace(body, bodyMaxLen)
 }