Instagram is ramping up its anti-bullying efforts with two new features that it hopes will protect users from hurtful and abusive content, the company announced this week.
“Our mission is to connect you with the people and things you love, which only works if people feel comfortable expressing themselves on Instagram,” Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said in a blog post. “We know bullying is a challenge many face, particularly young people.”
One of the new features is a warning that users will receive indicating that their comment may be offensive before it is posted, giving the person a chance to reflect and edit their remarks. If the commenter decides to send the message anyway, the recipient will also receive a warning that the content could be offensive.
The company said it has already seen success from the new notification feature, with many users choosing to revise their potentially offensive messages after they receive the warning.
Instagram will also soon have a new Restrict option, which will allow users to limit the content they get from other accounts without alerting the other user. This differs from the current Block, Unfollow, and Report features, which notify the bad actor that they've been flagged.
The platform said Restrict was created to help people who feel reluctant to block bullies because it could escalate the situation, especially among users that interact in real life.
“These tools are grounded in a deep understanding of how people bully each other and how they respond to bullying on Instagram, but they’re only two steps on a longer path,” Mosseri added.
The new features come as social media platforms continue to face criticism for allowing hate-filled content and fueling peer pressure among young people.
Just last year, a survey from the Pew Research Center found that nearly 60 percent of U.S. teens experienced cyberbullying. There is also widespread concern over radicalization online, which is especially pertinent to social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook ($FB), Instagram’s parent company.
“We are committed to leading the industry in the fight against online bullying, and we are rethinking the whole experience of Instagram to meet that commitment,” Mosseri said.
Instagram said it will announce more updates “soon.”
