Instagram, to prevent online bullying and empowering the targets of bullying to stand up for themselves is introducing new features.
Encouraging Positive Interactions
A new feature powered by AI will notify you when your comment may be considered offensive before it’s posted. This intervention gives you a chance to reflect and undo your comment and prevents the recipient from receiving the harmful comment notification.
Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram mentions "From early tests of this feature, we have found that it encourages some people to undo their comment and share something less hurtful once they have had a chance to reflect."
Also Read: Instagram tests ads for Explore section
Protecting Your Account From Unwanted Interactions With Restrict
Instagram has heard from young people in the community that they’re reluctant to block, unfollow, or report their bully because it could escalate the situation, especially if they interact with their bully in real life. Some of these actions also make it difficult for a target to keep track of their bully’s behavior.
Instagram will soon begin testing a new way to protect your account from unwanted interactions called 'Restrict'. Once you 'Restrict' someone, comments on your posts from that person will only be visible to that person.
You can choose to make a restricted person’s comments visible to others by approving their comments. Restricted people won’t be able to see when you’re active on Instagram or when you’ve read their direct messages.
In other news, Instagram will now save everything captured with the Stories Camera in the app for 7 days. You can visit 'Recents' to share your favorites later.