The image-sharing application, owned by Facebook, announced Wednesday that it will allow its users to filter messages received on the platform to redact offensive expressions.
The social network takes this one step further in the fight against online harassment.
Instagram (Facebook) has been allowing its users since Wednesday to filter messages received on the platform to purge them of offensive expressions, a new step for the social network which wants to give pledges in the fight against online harassment.
“Since direct messages are private conversations, we don't proactively check them for signs of hate speech or harassment like we do elsewhere on Instagram,” explains the popular image-sharing app in a communicated.
"The bulk of hate speech emanates from these direct message requests"
Users in seven countries (UK, France, Ireland, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Canada) can activate an option to automatically hide "direct message requests" (invitations to chat) containing words, phrases or offensive emojis.
"It is in these countries that there have been public figures, including footballers, who have been victims of abuse and offensive terms in direct messages," said Clotilde Briend, public policy manager at Instagram.
According to her, "the major part of hate speech emanates from these requests for direct messages. We will give each of us the possibility to report these messages to us or not" which will remain accessible in a separate inbox.
An extension to WhattsApp and Messenger under study
In French, "a few dozen" expressions are blocked, defined with the Génération Numérique association, which educates the youngest in the use of social networks, and users will have the possibility of adding their own terms, as is already the case. the case for moderation of comments.
Filtering is carried out directly on the user's terminal, and according to Clotilde Briend, it could then be extended to other popular messaging services in the Facebook group: Messenger and WhatsApp.
Instagram, which has more than a billion users, has tried for years to combat the harassment, hate speech and disinformation that abounds on social networks. In 2019, the company was releasing artificial intelligence to proactively warn people about posting offensive messages, and more recently it announced it would use machine learning to guess the actual age of users. In March, the social network confirmed its plan to create a version of its service reserved for younger adolescents, sparking an outcry among child rights professionals.