Instagram to delete accounts that pass offensive messages
Instagram is toughening its stance on hate speech in direct messages(DMs).
The company announced today that it’ll start disabling and deleting accounts of people who send offensive messages.
Instagram has updated its hate speech policy to accounts that send abusive messages through DMs. Instagram will start disabling accounts that use DMs to continuously send abusive and hateful messages.
Instagram’s current stand on abusive DMs is that it prohibits accounts from sending messages for a certain period of time. Now if accounts continue to send abusive messages, Instagram will disable these accounts. Instagram said it will also disable new accounts created to get around the platform’s messaging restrictions. It will also disable accounts that are created only to send abusive messages.
Instagram currently lets business and creator accounts switch off DMs from people they don’t follow. This helps avoid abusive messages as these accounts receive the most, Instagram said. Instagram has started expanding this feature to personal accounts in many countries and plans to make it available to all users soon.
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There are already a bunch of tools and features available for users to avoid hate comments and replies. But DMs are still a tricky space as they’re private. Instagram is working on a feature to tackle abusive DMs that it plans to launch in the coming months.
Instagram has been updating its hate speech controls which are majorly for comments and posts. Instagram said it took action on 6.5 million pieces of hate speech, including in DMs during July and September last year.
The new update on hate speech rules come after the recent racist abuse footballers in the UK faced through Instagram DMs. Instagram also said it’s working with the UK law enforcement to respond to valid legal requests in these cases.
This update to hate speech processes stems from a situation in the UK where soccer stars were targeted with racist abuse on Instagram after losing a match.
Prince William, who is also the president of England’s Football Association, issued a statement last month saying “racist abuse – whether on the pitch, in the stands, or on social media – is despicable and it must stop now.”
Four football clubs also issued a statement against the abuse, and the mayor of Greater Manchester pushed the social networks to step up in helping curb it.
