Reporting as offensive

[Joeyjoejoe]

How do I disable the feature in Canvas, which seems to be on by default, where students can report the material of other students as offensive?

Honestly, this setting should not be there at all, much less on by default. It encourages passive aggressiveness that leads to toxic class environments, where the accusers get to mark fellow students with a "Scarlet letter" of disapproval with no responsibility or accountability on their part.

[chriscas · Accepted solution]

Hi @Joeyjoejoe,

The main Canvas admin for your school/institution (usually in the eLearning / IT / Digital Education areas) can disable that feature from the account > settings > feature options area (it's listed as "Discussions Redesign - Reporting".  Doing that would affect all courses though, so they may prefer to leave it enabled.  We did disable that option at the institution I work at, mostly for technical/process reasons.

Hope this info helps!

-Chris

[Joeyjoejoe]

This is "solved"? Not quite. I work at an institution with 500 instructors, so turning it off for the entire school is not an option, at least not one that I have the time and energy to pursue.

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi @Joeyjoejoe ...

Yes, @chriscas is correct about this.  The "Discussions Redesign - Report" feature option can be turned on/off at the administrative level.  And, as Chris has pointed out, it is turned it on/off for all courses within the account.  Now, there are some feature options at the Canvas account level where the admin can turn those options on/off, but then a further step allows instructors the ability to turn the feature on/off per course.  So, unlike the feature option Chris and I have mentioned, those feature options have settings of:

• Off for all courses in the account with no ability to turn on at the course level
• Off for all courses in the account with the ability for instructors to turn on per course
• On for all courses in the account with the ability for instructors to turn off per course
• On for all courses in the account with no ability to turn off at the course level

Unfortunately, the "Discussions Redesign - Reporting" feature option only has the first and fourth options available ... not the middle two.

You could certainly submit this as a feature idea here in the Community to change the way this feature options currently works.  The "Discussions Redesign - Reporting" feature option does have a "Feature Preview" label on it...meaning, "opting in includes ongoing updates outside the regular release schedule".  So, maybe there would be a chance in the future that Instructure would change the behavior of this feature option toggle switch.

Canvas Ideas - Instructure Community

Be sure to check out the links on the right side of this page under "How do Ideas work?".

Hope this helps a bit.

[Joeyjoejoe]

Why are you arguing with me? This issue is not solved in the least.

I did report the problem - right above! Is there something wrong with the people working for Canvas that they are unable to read these posts and fix their interface accordingly? Why is it that every time that I discuss problems and terrible design on this forum, every single response blames the user and suggests that they need to do more work to fix a Canvas problem? I don't work for Canvas!

[JeffCampbell]

This is a community forum made up of users who choose to voluntarily assist other users. Very few of the regular users on here work for Canvas either. While you are right that Tech Support can look at these discussions, a huge chunk of the questions that pop up on here are not tech support related and would drastically reduce their ability to respond to true tech support issues if they spent their time here. This is why the Help menu on Canvas has an option to submit a ticket. That sends something directly to the correct support personal rather they relying on them to sift through all of the posts to find the stuff that they need to address.

I am sorry that your experiences indicate people blaming the user. I have been on here for four years now and have hardly seen anyone point a finger at the poster in the manner you suggest. I have seen people who request help and there is something they need to do to help fix the issue. This is because Canvas does not go in and change the settings for courses or institutions. That is a responsibility on the institution's end. That is different than asking users to fix Canvas. And sometimes, the issue is caused because of lack of knowledge or because someone at the institution changed something without understanding the effects it can have.

Nobody is trying to argue with you, although I can understand feeling frustrated by the matter. Both Chris and Chris are trying to assist you. Both have experience at the level of Canvas usage to provide assistance with this request. I'm not sure who marked it as solved, but Chris's answer does address your original question. Please do not get mad at them because someone saw you ask how to turn it off, saw Chris answer how to turn it off, and marked it as a solution.

[Joeyjoejoe]

Oh look, another "helpful" person saying that the problem isn't that Canvas has created this vile feature that is basically a "bully" button, created no way for users to turn it off, created forums for users to carry water for them so that they can protect their $500 million yearly profit, and then blames me for being "mad" and not cheerfully accepting the "solution" that does not help me in any way. So don't get it twisted - Canvas is the one to blame here, not me.

[KristinL]

Hi @Joeyjoejoe -

Thank you for using the forum to learn more about Canvas and share your thoughts. I want to acknowledge that everyone in the Community is working to create a supportive environment for shared learning and assistance. I’d like to remind everyone that mutual respect and following our Community Guidelines help maintain a welcoming environment for all.

Chris, Chris, and Jeff have shared accurate information, even if it’s not the response you were hoping for. Also, the Discussions Redesign reporting feature is still in development. That means that some aspects—such as instructor notifications for reported messages—are still being refined. Your institution’s CSM has connected with your Admin to review how these options impact your account. I encourage you to reach out to your Admin as well, so they can provide more insight into the decision and you can discuss how it affects your courses.

If you'd like to suggest that this feature become a course-level option, you’re encouraged to submit an Idea through our Ideas process. This input goes directly to our Product Team as they refine features.