Instagram on Wednesday announced that it was launching a special feature to stop abusive DMs.
These new tools would be in the form of keyword-based filters to combat harassment on the platform.
It will also stop unwanted messages coming from DM request.
First is an automated tool feature, which will filter messages and emojis from DMs. This would include all sorts of abuses like racism, sexism and others. This feature can be activated via a new setting called “Hidden Words”.
It can be found in Settings>Privacy>Hidden Words.
Once you activate the feature in the settings, all the filtered DM requests will appear in a separate request folder.
As the message text will be covered so you would have to tap the message in order to see it. Then, you can easily accept the request, delete it or report it.
The next feature gives it’ s users the ability to proactively block people. Even if they make a new account, they cannot send messages.
This new feature will be active globally in the next few weeks.
Instagram confirmed that these additional features will start rolling out in the U.K., France, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in the upcoming weeks.
Moreover, the second feature is said to be expanded later on to other countries.
These anti-abuse tools will only be found Instagram, not in WhatsApp or Messenger.
Since the feature to filter DMs has to be turned on proactively, it will not be available in default. So, the company seems to keep the conversations private if the users want them to be.
“We want to respect peoples’ privacy and give people control over their experiences in a way that works best for them,” a spokesperson said.
The company’s approach to eradicate bulling and harassment has been something of a template for how social media companies have built these days.
