Instagram introduces new anti-bullying features on its platform – Weekly Citizen

Adam Mosseri

One of the tools relies on artificial intelligence to determine whether language in a post could be deemed offensive and prompts the poster to reconsider. The feature has enabled some people to change comments in early tests, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said in a blog post Monday.

“This intervention gives people a chance to reflect and undo their comment and prevents the recipient from receiving the harmful comment notification,” he wrote.

Instagram is also testing an antibullying feature called Restrict, which allows users to limit their interactions with those who target them. When a user restricts someone, for example, that poster can see only their comments on the user’s post, according to the company. The user can choose to approve the comments on the post and make them visible to other users. The feature also doesn’t provide read receipts on direct messages.

Kevin Systrom, Instagram’s former chief executive, told The Wall Street Journal in September 2018 that he became concerned with bullying when he was thinking of having children of his own.

Social-media platforms  Facebook and Twitter Inc,  as well as video-sharing services, like YouTube,  have been under immense pressure to monitor users’ behavior on fronts ranging from cyberbullying to taming  false information.

Facebook adopted a suite of anti-bullying features on its platform in October, allowing users to delete and hide comments on posts en masse. Facebook also allows users to anonymously report bullying or harassment that will then be reviewed by the company’s community operations team.

Adam Mosseri noted it is their responsibility to create a safe environment for its users.