Instagram Introduces An Abuse Filter To Restrict Cyber Bullying

Hate speech is a common occurrence and an evil that goes side by side with the growth of the internet and social media. The digital world gave a powerful tool at the hands of men, which was impersonal mode of exchange. One of Instagram’s greatest feature is its impersonal method of communication and portrayal of lives. By basic psychology, it is much easier to speak ill online or to say certain things that have an impact without having a physical presence. 

To curb a growing trend of online negativity, Instagram is now introducing a new system that checks profanity and abusive words on its app. It includes a filter to restrict foul languages and hates speech on the comment sections and posts. Instagram has rolled out two new features to reduce online bullying.

• The firstly is anyone trying to comment on a post in an abusive manner will receive a popup warning.
• The second is the new ‘Restrict’ function which has been added to limit other users’ interaction with another.

Profanity Filter

According to the early testing period reports, the AI powered warning feature has stopped some people from posting abusive comments. The new intervening feature will occur if a user types any abusive comments which will be responded by a popup message. It asks the user if they are sure they wish to post the negative content. People are still capable of fooling the aforementioned AI by simply using symbols or alternative spellings. Instagram has not given any statement as to how it is going to prevent this from occurring. The new features functionality has yet to be extended towards other languages.

Restrict Function

The social media platform is also testing a new feature dubbed as ‘Restrict’. It will allow a person to limit undesired users to interact with them. A restricted person can still comment on the posts from the person that restricted them; however, the comments will only be visible to themselves. The person that utilizes the Restrict function can review and allow the restricted user’s comments to be visible to others specifically. Instagram has stated that people avoid blocking, reporting or even unfollowing their bullies fearing the escalation of the problem. The new feature would have restricted users not being able to see when the victim is active or when they’ve read their messages.

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Instagram has started to demote offensive posts that propagate hate speech starting in April 2019. The company is working hard to stop the ever-growing negativity that spreads on any social networking platform. Updates are expected to arrive that boost the AI’s capabilities to detect the hidden abusive language in comments. The new feature will add a much-needed function to help its users avoid troublesome people on its platform; a healthy step towards a positive online environment.