Instagram Adds New Tools to Block Offensive Comments

To foster kind, inclusive communities and to combat online bullying, photo-sharing app Instagram has added new tools — a filter to block certain offensive comments and a spam filter in nine languages.

The company has developed a filter that will block certain offensive comments on posts and in live video. All other comments will appear as they normally do and you can still report comments, delete comments or turn them off.

Also, users’ can always turn this filter off. To access it, click the “…” settings menu from the profile and scroll to tap “Comments.”

Also read: Instagram Introduces 24 hour Live Video Replays to Stories

The new filter will be launched in English first, but will be offered in more languages over time.

The spam filter looks for any obvious spam in comments, blocking it from your posts and live videos. The filter will remove spam written in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, French, German, Russian, Japanese and Chinese.

Powered by machine learning, the new filters are developed to keep Instagram a safe place.

Earlier this month, Instagram added a new feature that allows users to share the replay of your live video once you are done so that more of your friends and followers can catch up on what they missed.

When your broadcast has ended, you will be able to tap “Share” at the bottom of the screen to add your replay to Instagram Stories for 24 hours. You can also tap the toggle and choose “Discard,” and your live video will disappear from the app as usual.

The updates are available as part of Instagram version 10.26 available for iOS and Android.

Instagram now has 250 million daily users on Stories, up from 200 million announced in April.

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