Instagram launches tools as Safer Internet Day initiative

Feb 13, 2020

Instagram has initiated resources for users to provide more control over their experience on Safer Internet Day.

The resources are & tools are intended to provide transparency, prevent bullying & harassment, keep your account secure, and protect your privacy on Instagram. The introduction of this slate of tools is a part of the platform’s Safer Internet Day initiative, to reflect online issues and limit cyberbullying.

Safer Internet Day aims to raise awareness of the vices of the internet, and how they can be dealt with.

Support Requests

The feature shows the status of users’ submitted reports and their complete report history.

To view your reports, go to ‘Settings’, tap ‘Support Requests’, tap the desired report to view its status. Users can also click on ‘More Options’ to mute, block, restrict or unfollow any account, whose content has been reported. With the option ‘Request A Review’, users can disagree with an action taken on the account reported, and the platform would review it again.

In-App Appeal

Previously, only available through Instagram Help Center, now the in-app appeal option will appear when you attempt to log in to your disabled account.

Your username will be filled in, you will need to add your full name, e-mail and a reason why Instagram’s decision to disable your account was a mistake.

Also Read: Instagram launches Unlabel India to promote safer internet

Restrict

First introduced back in July 2019, in the testing phase, the option that lets you protect your account from unwanted interactions subsists.

Once you Restrict an account, you won’t receive any notifications from them. Comments from a restricted account will only be visible to you and the person you restricted, and messages from a restricted account will get moved to Message Requests. The restricted account will also not be able to see when you’ve read their direct messages or when you’re active on Instagram.

The prompt that is triggered when AI detects an offensive language, which urges users to rethink their comments or captions on a feed post, continues to function.

Message Requests

The new setting introduced allows you to control who can send you direct messages. Users can change the setting to only allow people they follow to message and add them to group threads.

While Instagram announces its initiative, several users have highlighted ongoing concerns with the platform, such as delayed request process, getting falsely banned form Instagram, unresponsive support, defective appeal system and more issues that the platform seems to have been ignoring.