Priority/Severity:
Medium
Platform
Operating System
Windows 11
Browser
Google Chrome 138.0.7204.96
Discourse
31ed2620caa780c941c6cff2a8ecaeffcbdbb14b
Description:
In addition to acting on flags raised by the users, staff members may monitor the forum and directly delete inappropriate posts they notice. If a staff member deletes a post that has an unreviewed flag, the review queue item is automatically approved by that staff member.
Although this behavior can result in inappropriate approval of flags in some cases, it is reasonable in the case of the standard moderation flags.
When the user raises a flag, they must select from a list of reasons for the flag. One of the items on this list is “It’s Illegal”. This flag reason is distinctive in that it is used to fulfill the forum operator’s regulatory requirement to provide a mechanism for reporting illegal content.
The “It’s Illegal” flag reason is regularly found to have been been chosen inappropriately by the flagger. In cases where the content is inappropriate, but not illegal, the most appropriate action is for the flag reviewer to click the “Ignore” or “No” button in the review interface (depending on whether the flagger’s claim of illegality was made in good faith) and remove the flagged content. It will be most appropriate to only click the “Yes” button when the flagged content does appear to be illegal.
If a staff member directly deletes an inappropriate but not illegal post that has been flagged as “It’s Illegal”, this results in the inadvertent and inappropriate approval of the flag. This flag status may result in confusion and wasted time in the course of the forum operator’s associated internal bureaucratic procedures and legally mandated reporting.
Reproducible steps:
- Log into a forum account that has staff privileges.
- Click the flag icon at the bottom of a throwaway post.
The “Thanks for keeping our community civil!” dialog will open. - Select the “It’s Illegal” radio button.
A “Let us know specifically why you believe this content is illegal…” field will appear. - Type a message in the “Let us know specifically why you believe this content is illegal…” field.
- Click the “Message” button.
- Directly delete the flagged post by clicking the trash can icon under the post.
- Navigate to the forum’s
/review?sort_order=created_at&status=approvedpage.
The status of the flag is “Flag approved”, even though you did not explicitly approve the flag.
Additional context
The best way to handle this situation is to always leave “It’s Illegal” flags in the review queue until a staff member has explicitly reviewed the flag.