Instagram is introducing a new set of features to further protect users from abuse on the platform. These features include the ability for people to limit comments and DM (direct message) requests during spikes of increased attention and stronger warnings while posting potentially offensive comments.
It has also announced the global rollout of its Hidden Words feature, which allows people to filter abusive DM requests. “We don’t allow hate speech or bullying on Instagram, and we remove it whenever we find it. We also want to protect people from having to experience this abuse in the first place, which is why we’re constantly listening to feedback from experts and our community, and developing new 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.
One of the main features is Limits, which will automatically hide comments and DM requests from people who don’t follow you, or those who have followed you recently (within a week). The feature has been developed keeping in mind creators and public figures. You can turn it on or off from the privacy settings.
It will now also show stronger warnings on the first instance when a user tries to post potentially offensive comments. The platform already shows a warning when someone tries to post a potentially offensive comment. And if they try 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. Now, rather than waiting for the second or third comment, the platform show this stronger message the first time.
Insta is also expanding the Hidden Words feature to all countries by the end of this month. The feature “allows you to automatically filter offensive words, phrases and emojis into a Hidden Folder, that you never have to open if you don’t want to. It also filters DM requests that are likely to be spammy or low-quality.”
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