The alert will also show users what kind of posts, comments and Stories that Instagram has removed from their accounts in the past, explaining exactly how they violate the rules of the platform. The page says, “If you post something that goes against our guidelines again, your account may be deleted.” The photo-sharing app will also give users a chance to appeal its moderation decisions directly via the alert and they would no longer have to go through its help page. Initially, only a certain type of content (like images removed for nudity) will be able to be appealed at first, however, Instagram will be expanding the options later on. The change will basically help the users exactly why they are in trouble. So, it should save them from the shock of suddenly finding out that their account has vanished. A number of accounts are deleted from the platform every day because they violate the rules. But then, Instagram, like Facebook, has faced a lot of flak in the past when it comes to removing content especially when it comes to nudity and sexuality. While the update will not decrease the mistakes, it will make it easier for users to appeal to the platform about its decision a little easier. Besides this Instagram is also giving its moderating team more leeway to ban people who violate its policies. We should mention that Instagram’s policy says that it will ban users who post “a certain percentage of violating content.” However, now the company will also ban users who violate its policies within a certain time-frame too.
It is worth pointing out that the specifics here are really vague and the company has not offered any clear details. But then, this may make it difficult for a number of problematic accounts to stay on the platform just because of a technicality. This week, Instagram had also announced that it will be expanding the test of hiding likes from people’s posts to six more countries now. For those unaware, at F8 2019, the company had said that it is testing to remove public likes completely from the platform. Till now, the feature was being tested in Canada, but now it has been expanded to more countries.
