Instagram ‘Restrict’ feature lets user to ban bullies

Instagram has introduced a new feature ‘Restrict’ targeted at the young users on its platform who face bullying from other users. Now the feature enables users to shadow ban bullies without alerting them to the change.

Instagram ‘Restrict’ feature lets user to ban bullies

Shadow-banning is the ideal alternative it enables users to quietly block a user’s comments from showing up, but they’ll still be visible to the bully, which means that user likely won’t realize they’ve been shadow banned.

Instagram users who restrict a follower will have the option to manually approve their comments, adding to the stealth aspect of shadow banning by making sure that acceptable comments still show up. The company says it plans to start testing this feature ‘soon.’

In addition, the company has started rolling out a new feature that uses artificial intelligence to detect when someone is attempting to post a negative comment.

Instagram the first to use artificial intelligence feature to recognize users attempting to post offensive comments, flashing a pop-up screen that asks them to “keep Instagram a supportive place” and to perhaps rethink their post.

When one of these comments are detected, the app will give the user an alert stating their comment may be offensive, encouraging them to change it before publishing.