Instagram is rolling out new features today to help users protect their accounts against abuse. Instagram will offer tools to filter abusive direct messages (DM) requests and a way for users limit the number of people who post comments or send DMs during spikes in attention, such as when they go viral. Those who harass others will be warned more clearly and have to take action.In a video update that was shared to the Instagram community last month, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, mentioned Limits as a new anti-harassment tool. This feature will allow Instagram users to temporarily lock their accounts to protect themselves from harassment.This addition could have been helpful in combating the recent racist attacks on Instagram that occurred following the Euro 2020 final. Several England footballers were viciously harassed after their defeat by angry fans. These incidents, which included racist comments and emoticons, brought attention to how difficult it is for Instagram users to protect themselves after they go viral.Instagram users often receive unwanted comments and DM requests during these spikes in attention. Limits allows users to select who can interact with them during busy times.You can toggle Instagram's privacy settings to set limits for accounts not following you and those belonging to your recent followers. Limits will prevent these accounts from posting comments or sending DM requests for a specified time period. This could be for a few days, weeks, or even a whole month.Twitter was looking at similar tools for viral users, but has not yet implemented them.Instagram's Limits feature was already in beta, but it is now available worldwide.According to the company, it is currently experimenting using machine learning to detect spikes in comments and DMs to prompt people with notifications in Instagram to enable Limits.Hidden Words is another feature that is being developed.Hidden Words is designed to protect users against abusive DM requests. It automatically filters out requests that include offensive words, phrases, and emojis, and places them in a Hidden Folder. You can choose to not view these hidden folders. It can also filter out spam and low-quality requests. Instagram does not provide a list to block words that could be used to game the system. However, it has updated its database with new offensive language. This includes strings of emoji similar to those used to abuse footballers.Hidden Words was already available in a few countries earlier this year. It will now be available to all Instagram users worldwide by the end of March. Instagram will encourage accounts with a greater following to use Hidden Words, via messages in their DM Inbox and in their Stories tray.This feature has been expanded to include the option to hide more comments, which allows users to hide potentially harmful comments, but not against Instagram's rules.The warnings that will be displayed when someone makes an abusive comment will also change. Already, Instagram warns users when they try to leave a comment. It will also display a stronger warning if they post offensive comments more than once. The company now claims that users will see a stronger message the first time they try to post a comment.It clearly states that comments may contain racist language, or other content that is against the guidelines. Users are reminded that the comment can be hidden if it's posted. The message warns users that if they continue to violate the community guidelines, their accounts may be deleted.Although systems are needed to combat online abuse are not well developed, they can be misused to silence criticism. If a creator spreads misinformation or conspiracies or has people calling them out on the comments, they can use anti-abuse software to cover up the negative interactions. The creator could paint a false picture of their account as popular and well-liked. This can then be used to leverage marketing power and make brand deals.Instagram is giving creators more control to deal with online abuse. However, the platform must also consider the possible impacts on the overall creator economy.In an announcement, Mosseri stated that the new features would help people avoid seeing abusive content. We are aware that there is more to be done, such as improving our systems to quickly find and remove abusive content and holding those responsible.
