A disputed flag is whenever your flag was dismissed as neither helpful nor declined, someone reviewed your flag but no conclusive action was taken. This is intended for use in cases where the validity of a flag is ambiguous.
Currently, the following scenarios may result in a flag being disputed:
- A spam or "rude or abusive" flag is cleared (but not declined) by a moderator. These flags are unique in that they can impose lasting penalties on the post and its author, so a special mechanism is provided for them to be cleared without penalizing either the author or the flagger. This can also be done retroactively if the post goes back into the queue, in which case a moderator can mark all such flags on a post as disputed (regardless of their current state).
- A Not An Answer flag or Very Low Quality flag is reviewed in the Low Quality review queue, receive recommendation for close (for questions) or deletion (for answers), and the final result of the review is "Looks OK".
Stack Overflow only:
- A Recommend Close flag is active on a post reviewed in the Triage review queue when the result of the review is not "Unsalvageable".
- A Spam, Rude or Abusive, or Very Low Quality flag is active on a post reviewed in the Triage review queue when the result of the review is "Requires Editing".
Disputed flags are considered neither helpful nor declined, regardless of the action taken in response to them. They do not affect a user's daily flag count and don't count toward flag bans.
See also: What is the difference between disputed and declined flags?
