diff --git a/app/models/abuse_report.rb b/app/models/abuse_report.rb
index be54549c63..1f8aeadcb1 100644
--- a/app/models/abuse_report.rb
+++ b/app/models/abuse_report.rb
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ def truncate_url
 
   validate :check_for_spam
   def check_for_spam
+    return unless %w(staging production).include?(Rails.env)
     approved = logged_in_with_matching_email? || !Akismetor.spam?(akismet_attributes)
     errors.add(:base, ts("This report looks like spam to our system!")) unless approved
   end
diff --git a/app/models/comment.rb b/app/models/comment.rb
index e9effa2ac9..87baf22a18 100644
--- a/app/models/comment.rb
+++ b/app/models/comment.rb
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ def by_anonymous_creator?
   validate :check_for_spam, on: :create
 
   def check_for_spam
+    return unless %w(staging production).include?(Rails.env)
     self.spam = !skip_spamcheck? && spam?
     self.approved = !self.spam
 
diff --git a/app/models/feedback.rb b/app/models/feedback.rb
index 68ea964daa..f6995ed739 100644
--- a/app/models/feedback.rb
+++ b/app/models/feedback.rb
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ class Feedback < ApplicationRecord
 
   validate :check_for_spam
   def check_for_spam
+    return unless %w(staging production).include?(Rails.env)
     approved = logged_in_with_matching_email? || !Akismetor.spam?(akismet_attributes)
     errors.add(:base, ts("This report looks like spam to our system!")) unless approved
   end
diff --git a/config/config.yml b/config/config.yml
index 2ee96a1f20..87e1ce827d 100644
--- a/config/config.yml
+++ b/config/config.yml
@@ -601,8 +601,8 @@ SUPPORTED_CSS_KEYWORDS: ["!important", "url"]
 SUPPORTED_EXTERNAL_URLS: ["jpg", "jpeg", "png", "gif"]
 
 # variables for Askimet http://akismet.com/
-AKISMET_KEY: '6833ee7298cf'
-AKISMET_NAME: 'http://transformativeworks.org'
+AKISMET_KEY: ''
+AKISMET_NAME: ''
 
 # Abuse and Support ticket trackers; you may need to change
 # feedbacks_controller.rb and abuse_reports_controller.rb