Instagram has implemented a new set of features to ensure users are guarded against abuse on the platform. These features incorporate the ability for people to limit comments and DM (direct message) requests during spikes of increased attention and stronger warnings while posting potentially nasty comments.
It has also declared the global rollout of its Hidden Words feature, which allows people to filter offensive DM requests. “We don’t allow hate speech or bullying on Instagram, and we remove it whenever we find it. We also want to gurad people from having to experience this abuse in the first place, which is why we’re continuously listening to feedback from experts and our community, and adding additional features to give people more control over their experience on Instagram, and help protect them from abuse,” Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram said in a blog post.
Today we’re announcing three updates to protect people from racism and abuse on Instagram. We don’t allow hate speech or bullying on our platform, and we hope these new tools will help protect people from having to experience abuse.
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) August 11, 2021
Once turned on, the Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform’s new Limits feature will automatically hide comments and DM requests from people who don’t follow the user or who only recently followed them.
We already show a warning when someone tries to post a potentially hurtful comment. If they try to post it again, we show a stronger warning – saying we may remove it if they post. Now, we’ll show the stronger message the first time rather than waiting for multiple tries. pic.twitter.com/CzEzqA0iT1
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) August 11, 2021
Instagram will also show stronger warnings on the first instance when a user tries to post potentially offensive comments. The platform already throws up an alert when someone tries to post a potentially abusive comment. So if the platform realizes that a user is attempting to post potentially offensive comments multiple times, it shows an even stronger warning – reminding them of its Community Guidelines and warning them that it may remove or hide their comment if they proceed.
Giving tools to ppl isn’t enough. We must approach the issue from both sides: continuing to improve our technology to proactively protect people from racism; and empowering ppl with tools like Limits & Hidden Words. We won’t rely on one or the other; working on both is critical.
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) August 11, 2021
To curb abuse in DMs and comments, Instagram recently announced the Hidden Words feature, allowing users to automatically filter offensive words, phrases, and emojis into a Hidden Folder. It also filters DM requests that are likely to be spammy or low-quality.
