I work as a sign language interpreter and the new FaceTime reactions is a nuisance. It is disruptive and should not appear by default.
Using this guide (https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT212950) I was able to disable reactions.
While the reactions no longer appeared on WhatsApp, FaceTime, Whereby, and Zoom video calls, the reactions continued to appear on WebX app. The reactions that appeared were not the same as WebX reactions feature (e.g. https://help.webex.com/en-us/article/bxg7wz/Webex-App-%7C-Use-reactions-in-your-meetings). The reactions that appeared were the same as Apple FaceTime.
When I switched to using WebX via Chrome, the reactions ceased. When using the App, they returned.
A colleague had a similar issue. Can you please investigate this issue. We also used FaceTime camera and external webcam,. Same problem persisted.