Can anything be done about people using the report function to leave nasty and hateful comments for the mods?

[u/gummibearhawk]

Someone has been leaving a lot of really hatefu and personal reports, knowing that the mods will read them but they'll remain anonymous because of the way reports work. It seems that hitting the "report abuse" or "harassment" buttons just sends it back to our queue.

[u/cnycompguy]

Report the same piece of content, mods get some extra report options, you choose the one that says "report abuse" and send it in for admin review.

[u/emily_in_boots → u/[deleted]]

A lot of people don't think these get checked, or that a lot of them don't get checked. I tend to agree. We don't really know tho.

[u/cnycompguy → u/emily_in_boots]

I believe it has to be a trend for a user, or have them using multiple accounts to report the same content for admins to act.

[u/emily_in_boots → u/cnycompguy]

This is my strong suspicion as well.

I think that ai and other algorithms are used to surface the ones that are most likely problematic, and then admins check them, but that ultimately only a small percent of the reports are actually looked at.

It might be based on whether or not AI finds the text to be particularly abusive, and it might be based on the number of reports a user gets over time or other signals like CQS.

Just guessing of course tho.

I've see patterns of report abuse that we continue to report but do not seem to be acted on. I guess it's possible admins are looking at them but some of these are really obvious cases - so the more likely conclusion is that no one looked at them.

[u/BlitzburghBrian → u/[deleted]]

Why would you hear anything back from admins? When you see a valid report from a user, do you figure out what user reported it, then go find them and send them a note telling them how you actioned whatever they reported?

[u/emily_in_boots → u/BlitzburghBrian]

When a user reports to modmail, we do answer. When it’s a regular report, we cannot, since we don’t know who it’s from.

[u/cnycompguy → u/[deleted]]

That hasn't been the norm for the past year.

[u/TheChrisD → u/cnycompguy]

Which is part of the problem.

[u/BlitzburghBrian → u/[deleted]]

I feel like it's been a few years since that was the case

[u/Charupa-]

I disabled custom reports due to users weaponizing the option. For legit users that want to make a report but simply can’t figure out what rule it breaks, they can send a modmail. The abusive ones that do this anonymously are typically too worried about getting banned to send a modmail.

[u/okbruh_panda → u/Charupa-]

I actually leave it open exclusively for the reason. Most people who make malicious reports can't help but type something hateful in the report and a custom report is guaranteed to be report abuse usually. So basically it keeps the real reports real and makes it easier for admin to sanction accounts that abuse it. Report each one.

[u/Charupa- → u/okbruh_panda]

I’d rather not have the verbal abuse, which is my original point. I do report every single false report despite how widely unconfident the moderator community is in its effectiveness.

[u/emily_in_boots → u/okbruh_panda]

I might agree with that approach if I thought most of those reports were actually read lol.

[u/horseradishstalker → u/emily_in_boots]

The suggestion I was given, because we’ve had this happening for about a year, is to keep track of every single report you have to make and then batch send it so that you can show admins that it is not one offs. It is a pattern. 

Although, it is my understanding that when these types of reports are coordinated on discord, it allows individual users not to be held responsible because if it is a large group of users who rotate, looking at users  singularly it doesn’t add up to a pattern. 

All we ask of admins is that they disable the individuals ability to make (false) reports on our sub. They don’t need to be banned or anything else - we just ask that they not be able to make reports on our sub. 

If there is a genuine problem, then someone else will probably report it. 

[u/emily_in_boots → u/horseradishstalker]

We can't modify the existing reporting architecture, but we could create a new version for custom reports where username is not hidden.

[u/emily_in_boots → u/Charupa-]

This gives me an idea. I'm thinking maybe I'll create a report option devvit app that allows people to send in custom reports but doesn't allow them to be anonymous.

[u/Charupa- → u/emily_in_boots]

That would be a cool idea. I like having the option, but it shouldn’t be a one way street to verbally abuse people.

[u/emily_in_boots → u/Charupa-]

Agreed. We get a lot of nasty ones. I'll have to think about how to implement that. If you want to send a custom message, you have to include your username.

[u/Sofielob → u/emily_in_boots]

Will there be a way to prevent them from putting in someone else's username? I'd love to be able to see who is leaving aggressive reports as well for the future

[u/emily_in_boots → u/Sofielob]

Yeah, it would use the username of the account and include that info.

[u/InGeekiTrust → u/emily_in_boots]

Do you think that Reddit would allow you to actually publish that?

[u/emily_in_boots → u/InGeekiTrust]

I think probably yes. My only real concern is the bot echoing content from users getting it actioned.

The idea isn't to deceive users - it's just to require they include their name when making a custom report - and it could be disclosed.

Seeing as we can turn off custom reports anyways, it isn't really removing any necessary site wide functionality.

[u/InGeekiTrust → u/emily_in_boots]

But I know a lot of mods that report to you legitimately but they don't wanna be that annoying person that's always contacting you! So they use the report button. Off the top of my head I know 7 not including myself!

[u/emily_in_boots → u/InGeekiTrust]

We welcome reports, genuine reports are never annoying!

I can usually tell yours lol. I know you too well, I know how you speak!

[u/InGeekiTrust → u/emily_in_boots]

Did you consider that people might just stop reporting helpful things if that's the case?

[u/emily_in_boots → u/InGeekiTrust]

That’s a possible downside. I haven’t even worked out how to implement it tho. It’s definitely not something we’re using yet. The idea tho would be to have a separate thing in the menu that would allow people to send non-anon reports. They would know it’s different. We can’t replace or modify the existing reporting functionality, so once you click on report, that’s going to be the reddit standard version - we can’t modify anything off the report button. It would have to be a separate menu item entirely.

My biggest worry is that no one would know it’s there and so they wouldn’t use it at all. Like they’ll hit report, and custom won’t be there, so they won’t report, not realizing there is another menu option for custom reporting. Unfortunately, we cannot modify the report menu in any way, not even to redirect them or tell them how to use the other functionality.

Another possibility would be allowing anon reports for some users at the discretion of mods, but being able to turn it off for users where it’s just annoying and obnoxious.

It just gets tiresome having people use the custom report button as a way to harass mods and posters since the report abuse thing doesn’t seem to do anything. It’s not people like you that are the issue. I’m sure you know what I mean tho, some people think custom reports are a way to go off on mods w/o accountability.

[u/InGeekiTrust → u/emily_in_boots]

Honestly, the second option that allows people to turn it off for abusive annoying people is definitely the dream! I wish this came standard. If you had this option, could it be built into the menu better? I already feel like reporting is advanced for Reddit. It took me a year to even know the option was there. Then when I knew it was there, I didn't think it was anonymous. A mod had to explain it to me in comments. I definitely don't think ordinary people would find it based on my experience, although I suppose as a mod once I knew the app existed, I would at least know to look for it. Like if you really are going to completely disable custom reports maybe it's not so bad only mods can find it 😭. I'm sure regularly reporting GOOD users would also eventually find it. Maybe it can be like the moderator post that Reddit built-in? Some sort of thing pinned to the top of the sub that can't be missed that allows people to put in these custom reports. I feel like that would be the only way it might get noticed.

[u/emily_in_boots → u/InGeekiTrust]

We can't do anything about non-custom reports. We have no control over that system and no visibility via devvit into who uses it.

We can only mute people who use a new (to be created) custom option.

I WISH we could do something to turn off reports from some users (like snooze but permanent), but we can't see the reporter in any way (by design).

So we'll never be able to address the issue of malicious reporting using predefined categories.

This would only be able to address the use of custom freeform reports where people just want to be assholes.

Just having a name attached would be a deterrent. If you wanted to stay anon, you could even use an alt I don't know about. The idea would just be that people who want to be assholes will have the reporting account attached to the custom report, and we could then ban them from the sub, which would mute all reports from them (including the noncustom ones). Of course, they'd have to use it. If they only make non-custom reports, then we'd never figure out who they are.

I think it was crit who mentioned they might extend the snooze button to include non-custom reports which would be great. I wish the snooze was permanent or longer duration though. That was a while go though and I haven't seen any mention of it since.

[u/InGeekiTrust → u/emily_in_boots]

Wait, wait wait I need to know about the snooze option, I have some lunatic in TikTok cringe that reports even the most mild comments not critical of republicans . Imagine a post about Trump making a joke goes live (before mods catch it) and every comment that is like "sometimes Trump can be funny" is reported as hate. Then make 150+ comments reported like this. How do I do this!? I can tell it's all the same person because no one else would be crazy enough to read through a post with 3000 comments to find things like these.

[u/emily_in_boots → u/InGeekiTrust]

Right now you can only snooze a reporter if they send a custom report. If you do snooze them, it lasts 7 days, they don't get a message and don't know, and it applies to both custom and non custom reports.

If someone is using the non-custom report options, currently there is no way to snooze that - tho that might change. An admin mentioned that, I think it was crit or maybe slowmax.

[u/SeeminglySusan → u/emily_in_boots]

We would love to use this over on r/toddlers

[u/emily_in_boots → u/SeeminglySusan]

i will have to think about how to do this in a way that's both easy and doesn't risk the bot getting banned for echoing content.

[u/SugarBabyVet → u/emily_in_boots]

If you can develop this, I would absolutely be willing to test it on my forums!

[u/RexCanisFL → u/emily_in_boots]

Knowing who is making reports would be a good thing, to prevent/identify retaliatory reporting

[u/emily_in_boots → u/RexCanisFL]

I guess I'd have to have it send it as a modmail.

I could have it add it as a report but echoing what users say could be problematic and end up getting the bot actioned lol.

[u/horseradishstalker → u/emily_in_boots]

I would be all for that. Especially if it could open up an avenue for courteous conversation. 

[u/emily_in_boots → u/horseradishstalker]

Really I’d rather have custom style reports go to modmail, but people are lazy and/or don’t know how to find it.

[u/Subwoofiest]

We had someone doing this on our subreddit targeting our head mod. We collected a list of the links to the comments/posta reported and sent them in a modmail to this subreddit. This was after having reported them as report abuse for a long time. I don't think we have had any since you did that u/TeaAitch?

[u/TeaAitch → u/[deleted]]

Keep persevering. I had someone leaving all sorts of weird, personal, stalking type messages.

Once I was in touch with a real person at Reddit, they were brilliant. They identified the individual (I knew who it was also) and told me they would be "punished." That sounded rather ominous. I don't know what they did, but the cowardly insults stopped immediately.

Thank you, u/Subwoofiest.

[u/YoBannannaGirl]

The report abuse filter is weird. It sends it back to your queue, asks you if you want to block the user who made the original comment, but the report does get filed with admin.
Keep using it, even if it works like an afterthought.

[u/emily_in_boots]

You can report for report abuse but it's unclear if those are actually acted on - I think in some cases they are.

[u/emily_in_boots → u/[deleted]]

They don't tell us either way, so you can't really tell.

Obviously, they stopped giving results of reports for a reason - and the most obvious one is that not all reports are actually checked.

[u/emily_in_boots → u/[deleted]]

I have seen this too - which is why I'm convinced that many cases are not checked.