diff --git a/app/serializers/merge_request_poll_cached_widget_entity.rb b/app/serializers/merge_request_poll_cached_widget_entity.rb
index df119d8516b79529a76f02160827d47a63d64eda..a246caf0faf932d3474ee38580db198c412833de 100644
--- a/app/serializers/merge_request_poll_cached_widget_entity.rb
+++ b/app/serializers/merge_request_poll_cached_widget_entity.rb
@@ -29,7 +29,11 @@ class MergeRequestPollCachedWidgetEntity < IssuableEntity
   end
 
   expose :commits_without_merge_commits, using: MergeRequestWidgetCommitEntity do |merge_request|
-    merge_request.recent_commits.without_merge_commits
+    if Feature.enabled?(:disable_widget_responses, merge_request.target_project)
+      []
+    else
+      merge_request.recent_commits.without_merge_commits
+    end
   end
 
   expose :diff_head_sha do |merge_request|
diff --git a/app/serializers/merge_request_poll_widget_entity.rb b/app/serializers/merge_request_poll_widget_entity.rb
index 3617713d03d70bd0fcac3f9e47cfffc7379fd073..eeac341aa72cb618c8e08d5aabf3bc6919dc193a 100644
--- a/app/serializers/merge_request_poll_widget_entity.rb
+++ b/app/serializers/merge_request_poll_widget_entity.rb
@@ -29,7 +29,11 @@ class MergeRequestPollWidgetEntity < Grape::Entity
   end
 
   expose :default_merge_commit_message_with_description do |merge_request|
-    merge_request.default_merge_commit_message(include_description: true)
+    if Feature.enabled?(:disable_widget_responses, merge_request.target_project)
+      ''
+    else
+      merge_request.default_merge_commit_message(include_description: true)
+    end
   end
 
   expose :only_allow_merge_if_pipeline_succeeds do |merge_request|
diff --git a/config/feature_flags/gitlab_com_derisk/disable_widget_responses.yml b/config/feature_flags/gitlab_com_derisk/disable_widget_responses.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7292300c20186ec734d0272a5a23f4760f4f537b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/feature_flags/gitlab_com_derisk/disable_widget_responses.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+name: disable_widget_responses
+feature_issue_url: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/520302
+introduced_by_url: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/182725
+rollout_issue_url: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/521327
+milestone: '17.10'
+group: group::source code
+type: gitlab_com_derisk
+default_enabled: false
diff --git a/spec/serializers/merge_request_poll_cached_widget_entity_spec.rb b/spec/serializers/merge_request_poll_cached_widget_entity_spec.rb
index 458d9ecd916773fadf4c4f6b9cd6b5246243e91e..da20e56f2922cc10588f8641fc68fb6d85dbea43 100644
--- a/spec/serializers/merge_request_poll_cached_widget_entity_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/serializers/merge_request_poll_cached_widget_entity_spec.rb
@@ -174,13 +174,23 @@ def find_matching_commit(short_id)
       resource.commits.find { |c| c.short_id == short_id }
     end
 
-    it 'does not include merge commits' do
-      commits_in_widget = subject[:commits_without_merge_commits]
+    it 'returns empty array' do
+      expect(subject[:commits_without_merge_commits]).to eq([])
+    end
+
+    context 'when "disable_widget_responses" is disabled' do
+      before do
+        stub_feature_flags(disable_widget_responses: false)
+      end
+
+      it 'does not include merge commits' do
+        commits_in_widget = subject[:commits_without_merge_commits]
 
-      expect(commits_in_widget.length).to be < resource.commits.length
-      expect(commits_in_widget.length).to eq(resource.commits.without_merge_commits.length)
-      commits_in_widget.each do |c|
-        expect(find_matching_commit(c[:short_id]).merge_commit?).to eq(false)
+        expect(commits_in_widget.length).to be < resource.commits.length
+        expect(commits_in_widget.length).to eq(resource.commits.without_merge_commits.length)
+        commits_in_widget.each do |c|
+          expect(find_matching_commit(c[:short_id]).merge_commit?).to eq(false)
+        end
       end
     end
   end
@@ -210,6 +220,7 @@ def find_matching_commit(short_id)
     context 'when merge request is mergeable' do
       before do
         stub_const('MergeRequestDiff::COMMITS_SAFE_SIZE', 20)
+        stub_feature_flags(disable_widget_responses: false)
       end
 
       it 'has default_squash_commit_message and commits_without_merge_commits' do
diff --git a/spec/serializers/merge_request_poll_widget_entity_spec.rb b/spec/serializers/merge_request_poll_widget_entity_spec.rb
index 7101f465de4a712d4dfa1a169f0bf4831a1730cd..15388937676949663a9c9107b67f4efb4fb3eb26 100644
--- a/spec/serializers/merge_request_poll_widget_entity_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/serializers/merge_request_poll_widget_entity_spec.rb
@@ -17,9 +17,21 @@
     described_class.new(resource, { request: request }.merge(options)).as_json
   end
 
-  it 'has default_merge_commit_message_with_description' do
-    expect(subject[:default_merge_commit_message_with_description])
-      .to eq(resource.default_merge_commit_message(include_description: true))
+  describe '#default_merge_commit_message_with_description' do
+    it 'returns empty string' do
+      expect(subject[:default_merge_commit_message_with_description]).to eq('')
+    end
+
+    context 'when "disable_widget_responses" is disabled' do
+      before do
+        stub_feature_flags(disable_widget_responses: false)
+      end
+
+      it 'has default_merge_commit_message_with_description' do
+        expect(subject[:default_merge_commit_message_with_description])
+          .to eq(resource.default_merge_commit_message(include_description: true))
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   it { is_expected.to include(ff_only_enabled: false) }