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Instagram said Tuesday that it will automatically hide negative comments on posts, one of several new steps the Facebook-owned social media platform is taking to reduce bullying and harassment.
Instagram has been testing the feature in recent days and said it will target comments users have reported as inappropriate in the past. Users must now click on the ‘View Hidden Comments’ button to reveal a negative comment that has been covered up.
Instagram has also modified its comment warning feature. After a user writes a potentially offensive comment, but before the comment is posted, a pop-up message will appear saying, “This may be against our guidelines.” The pop-up notifies users that if they post a negative comment, it is likely to be hidden and that Instagram can investigate whether to delete the user’s account.
“Potential consequences”
“These new warnings allow people to take a moment to step back and reflect on their words and lay out the possible consequences if appropriate,” Instagram said in its announcement. “Since we launched the comment warning, we have found that reminding people of the consequences of bullying on Instagram and providing feedback in real time as they write the comment is the most effective way to change behavior.”
Instagram did not offer details on what kind of language or comments would be hidden. The platform automatically removes posts and comments that are pornographic, praise organized crime, or threaten to cause physical harm.
It is Twitter’s policy to remove posts that “wish or expect death, serious bodily injury, or fatal illness against anyone.”
As Instagram hopes to minimize inappropriate comments, Facebook has come under fire this year for the way it handles hate speech. The NAACP and other civil rights groups said in July that Facebook has not done enough to ban or remove posts about vaccine misinformation, white supremacy or violent conspiracy theories.
Twenty state attorneys general also demanded that Facebook do more to combat hate speech. Such concerns have caused big companies like Adidas, Coca-Cola and Starbucks boycott the social media giant. Facebook said in August that it is spending billions of dollars to keep hate speech off its platform and has removed more than 22 million negative or harmful posts.
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