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It seems that each time I've flagged a flag as an "Invalid Flag", it's been disputed.

  1. The question here was flagged as "Low Quality". I flagged the flag as Invalid, it's status is now:

    disputed - a moderator reviewed your flag, but found no evidence to support it

  2. The answer here was flagged as "Not an answer"; My invalid flag was disputed.

  3. The answer here was custom flagged as "Duplicate answer"; My invalid flag was disputed.

  4. The answer here was flagged for a reason I can't remember; the answer has since been deleted by the owner, but again, my invalid flag was disputed.

If it was clear that the moderator believed the flag I disputed was legit (e.g. by taking action and deleting/ updating/ commenting the post in question), I would be rest assured that I'm using the Invalid Flag wrongly.

However, because no moderator action was taken on any of the flags (which can read as "the flag was invalid), why are all of my "Invalid Flag" flags getting disputed?

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    255 disputed flags and always wondered the same thing
    – user221081
    Commented Mar 24, 2014 at 9:44

2 Answers 2

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When you flag as invalid, both the original flag(s) and yours are marked as "disputed" (and flag weight is unaffected for all).

That's what the "disputed" resolution says: there were diverging opinions on these flags.

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    +1. Can I disputed flag be helpful? For example, if a post was deleted by moderator, those who raised the flag originally should get their flag status changed to helpful. Those who marked as "invalid flag" can remain "disputed". On the other hand, if somebody marked as "invalid", and the post was not deleted for, say, 7 days after (can adjust the threshold as needed), "disputed" should change to "helpful" for those. There must be incentive for both sides of the barricade.
    – Victor Zakharov
    Commented Apr 15, 2014 at 13:47
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It is actually the flags that you declared invalid that are disputed by the moderators, moderators cannot handle multiple flags on the same post individually. So you're getting the message that was really meant for the user flagging first, not for the user disputing the flag.

This aspect of flag handling is just very confusing. Looking at the action, or lack of action from moderators on the flagged post is the best way to judge whether your invalid flag was right or wrong at the moment.

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    +1 - The final state of the flagged post is the best indicator of the validity of a flag.
    – Bill the Lizard
    Commented Nov 16, 2011 at 12:42
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    +1 for "This aspect of flag handling is just very confusing."... Thanks for your answer :)
    – Matt
    Commented Nov 16, 2011 at 15:21
  • @Bill the Lizard: If the user has 40 flag counts in one's kitty per day, does the disputed flag also count in that? What I mean is if currently, I have say 10 flags left that I can use in a day and if I dispute a flag, will the count go down to 9 or will it remain at 10?
    – Siddharth Rout
    Commented Jun 1, 2012 at 15:10
  • +1 - I was wondering why I was getting those messages :)
    – Siddharth Rout
    Commented Jun 1, 2012 at 15:14
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    @SiddharthRout I'm not sure. Can you post that as a separate question? You may want to reference What is a disputed flag?, stating that it doesn't have all the information it should.
    – Bill the Lizard
    Commented Jun 1, 2012 at 15:29
  • @Bill the Lizard: Sure I will do that. Thanks for getting back. Cheers
    – Siddharth Rout
    Commented Jun 1, 2012 at 15:38
  • @Bill the Lizard: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/134221/… Thanks again.
    – Siddharth Rout
    Commented Jun 1, 2012 at 15:46

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