In a bid to curb online bullying on social media platforms, Instagram has announced new features including a warning to netizens as they are preparing to post abusive remarks.
“It’s our responsibility to create a safe environment on Instagram,” said Adam Mosseri, head of the visually focused social platform owned by Facebook.
“This has been an important priority for us for some time, and we are continuing to invest in better understanding and tackling this problem,” he added.
The new tool generated by artificial intelligence notify’s users that their comment might be offensive before posting it, AFP has reported.
“This intervention gives people a chance to reflect and undo their comment and prevents the recipient from receiving the harmful comment notification,” said Mosseri.
“From early tests of this feature, we have found that it encourages some people to undo their comment and share something less hurtful once they have had a chance to reflect,” he added.
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Another tool called ‘restrict’ is being tested and will make posts from an offending person visible only to that person.
“You can choose to make a restricted person’s comments visible to others by approving their comments,” Mosseri added.
“Restricted people won’t be able to see when you’re active on Instagram or when you’ve read their direct messages.”
The move by Instagram is the latest in a series of actions on cyberbullying by social networks to deal with hate speech and abusive conduct which can be especially harmful to young users.
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