Instagram’s anti-bullying features debut to target hateful comments, ‘restrict’ bullies

Instagram on Monday announced that it will be providing users with two new features to address bullying on the platform.

The first of the two is aimed at “encouraging positive interactions” on Instagram, and notifies users when they are about to post a comment that could be considered mean and hateful.

“Are you sure you want to post this?” Instagram will ask, giving the user an opportunity to remove their comment.

The second feature, called Restrict, will give Instagrammers the opportunity to restrict followers who may be bullying or targeting them.

“Once you Restrict someone, comments on your posts from that person will only be visible to that person. You can choose to make a restricted person’s comments visible to others by approving their comments,” Instagram explained on its blog.

The restricted individual will not be notified of the setting.

Restrict will be available on the platform soon for testing.

“These tools are grounded in a deep understanding of how people bully each other and how they respond to bullying on Instagram,” the company concluded.

Feature image: Instagram