Instagram on Wednesday announced the official rollout of Restrict, a new feature that will allow users to shadow ban selected followers.
The company first revealed Restrict as part of its anti-bullying efforts back in July, explaining that users will be able to implement the feature to hide comments from rude or hateful followers on their posts.
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A restricted follower will still be able to view and comment on posts, but their comments will only be visible to them.
This essentially bans the restricted follower without their knowledge and reduces the chance of further conflict on the platform.
“You can restrict someone by swiping left on a comment, through the Privacy tab in Settings, or directly on the profile of the account you intend to restrict,” Instagram explained in a blog post.
The company further revealed that users can also view blocked comments and approve them if they wish.
“Direct messages will automatically move to Message Request, and you will not receive notifications from a restricted account,” the company added.
In an effort to further promote positivity amongst its users, Insta also announced that it will be rolling out an anti-bullying sticker for Stories in the coming weeks.
Feature image: Instagram