Since late 2019, Instagram has been continuing its initiatives to protect young people and combat harassment and misinformation.
Age limit for registering on Instagram
Since the end of 2019, minors under the age of 13 can no longer create accounts on INSTAGRAM. This is to protect them from content that is inappropriate for their age (violence, sex, drugs, alcohol, etc.).
New users must enter their age via a form. A double verification system has been put in place. If new registrants have a FACEBOOK account, the birthday recorded on the social network will be transferred directly to INSTAGRAM.
One issue remains unresolved: when registering on the platform, it is still possible to lie about one's age, and for the time being, this new age protection does not apply to young people who are already registered.
Since the end of the year, the platform has allowed users to choose who can add them to discussion groups, thereby improving message confidentiality.
Combating harassment
When an INSTAGRAM user writes a comment accompanying a photo or video, an alert generated by artificial intelligence analysis alerts them if their content could be considered offensive or hurtful.
The editor can then modify their text before approving its publication. This feature has been active since the end of 2019, but it only allows for the comment to be reworded.
The «Like» counter will also be hidden. Only the author will be able to see the number of «Likes» on their posts.
The aim is to reduce «competition, give people more space to focus on photos and videos... rather than the number of likes posts receive,» explained Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram. (source: Wired). Removing likes was already tested in May 2019 in certain countries such as Canada, Brazil and Australia. The platform will implement this change in the United States, the app's country of origin, and will likely do so in Europe soon.
It helps combat likes that can amount to online lynching. Our video with Rose Carpet explains this phenomenon very simply.
Combating disinformation
Finally, the social network is determined to stop images that spread fake news on its platform.
Instagram has therefore begun hiding photos that have been artistically edited since mid-January.
Furthermore, when a post is verified and found to be false, even partially, its distribution on Instagram is restricted. The post is no longer visible in the Explore tab or in hashtag searches. These questionable posts are explicitly marked and the images are blurred.
Instagram is committed to making adjustments to its platform every six months to ensure user-friendliness and protect younger users.
