I talked to Fuji late yesterday. I was told that the rubber piece on the X-T3 is indeed a channel cover and is tethered to the battery chamber. It can be pulled up though doing so is not nearly as easy as it should be. I was just able to do it with a very fine-tipped screwdriver. Their engineering in this case is less than stellar.
Well, i had the same problem with Fuji XT50. The solution is: first you set one of the auto options of ISO the low, and the high iso. Let's say: Low ISO in 125 or 200, high ISO 1600 for a sunny day. Or higher in a dark day: 6400. Then you must go to set up menu (Symbol a wrench) choose button dial setting and the you set LOCK. Then in LOCK choose / SELECTED FUNCTION and then / SELECTED. After that yoy go below, you choose FUNCTION SELECTION to block unwanted activations. In your case, you block ISO SETTINGS. Then when you press the Q button you will see the iso mode DEACTIVATED. By the way, this happens because you use shutter speed priority mode and the camera detects incorrect (usually very low speed. The problem is that the camera doesn't return to the previews selection and remains in high iso settings. Good Luck! (Advice: NEVER de-activate the LCD screen for reviewing pictures!)
I do not think that rubbery looking seal on the side is actually a cable channel cover, but is instead a seal.
If you compare the bottom of the X-T30 to the bottom of the X-T3,
https://fujifilm-dsc.com/en-int/manual/x-t30/about_this_camera/parts/index.html
vs
https://fujifilm-dsc.com/en-int/manual/x-t3/about_this_camera/parts/index.html
the X-T30 has the cable channel cover but the X-T3 does not.
YMMV.