Reporting, blocking, restricting, and banning are four different tools. Please do not use the biggest hammer for every problem just because the button is there.
Report a Message
Reporting is about one specific message. Anyone can report a message they did not send.
- Press and hold the message.
- Tap Report.
- Choose Inappropriate Content, Spam, or Harassment or Bullying.
- Confirm the report.
The report is submitted, and the message is immediately hidden behind a placeholder for the person who reported it. They can reveal it again if they need the context.
Reporting does not automatically block or ban the sender. It creates a record so the situation can be reviewed.
Also, no, reporting a staff member does not instantly send their message to Andrew and Christina Gard. That part in the main talk was a joke. Unless they are somehow reading this right now.
Block a User
Blocking is a personal setting. Anyone can block another person from that person's profile.
- Open the person's profile.
- Tap Block User.
- Confirm the action.
The blocked person cannot message the member who blocked them.
Blocking does not ban the other person from the GCT app, remove them from other conversations, or block them for anyone else. It only applies to the person who chose the block.
A member can review and undo their blocks from Settings > Blocked Users.
Restrict Messaging
This is the staff version of muting someone for life, except an authorized leader can lift it later, so maybe not literally for life.
The member can still:
- Open the app.
- View the app's normal content.
- Read conversations they have access to.
The member cannot:
- Send messages anywhere in the app.
- Reply in a conversation.
- Get around the restriction by moving to a different chat.
Authorized staff with the Member moderation permission can apply or lift this restriction from the person's profile.
Ban from App
This is the strongest action.
When someone is banned:
- They lose access to the GCT app.
- They are signed out when the app next checks their access.
- Public GCT data is blocked from being viewed on that phone.
- The phone itself is banned, so they cannot sign back into the banned account.
- They also cannot sign into a different account from that device.
This is a device ban, not only an account ban. Switching accounts does not get around it.
The ban remains active until an authorized leader lifts it.
Who Can Moderate?
Only authorized staff with the Member moderation permission will see the Moderation section on another person's profile.
From that section, they can:
- Apply or lift Restrict Messaging.
- Apply or lift Ban from App.
- Add an optional internal reason when applying an action.
The reason should be short and factual so another leader can understand why the action happened. This is not the place for a five-paragraph emotional essay.
Which Tool Should I Use?
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| One message may be inappropriate, spam, or harassment | Report |
| I personally do not want this person messaging me | Block User |
| Staff need to stop someone from sending messages anywhere | Restrict Messaging |
| Staff need to remove app access and block the device | Ban from App |
Someone can report a message and block its sender at the same time. Reporting creates the record. Blocking gives the person an immediate personal boundary.
Please Do Not Practice on a Real Person
If staff are demonstrating moderation, use a designated test account.
- Open the test profile.
- Scroll to Moderation.
- Open Restrict Messaging and look at the explanation and reason field.
- Cancel.
- Open Ban from App and look at the explanation.
- Cancel again.
Nobody wants to explain why a real Core Team member got device-banned during a training meeting.
TLDR
Report equals flag one message.
Block equals protect yourself.
Restrict Messaging equals they can read but cannot send.
Ban from App equals no app access, no public GCT data on that phone, and no signing into any account from that device.