Instagram will be able to filter private messages with offensive words, phrases or emojis, according to the company's blog. It can be turned on in a special section of the privacy settings.
The function will be launched in several countries in the coming weeks (which ones are not specified), and in the coming months the geography of its application will be expanded. It will work similarly to comment filters under posts. Users will also be able to add words themselves that will be taken into account when filtering.
Instagram clarified that the tool will only apply to requests for correspondence, “since this is where people usually receive abusive messages.” It will not touch messages from those who are already friends with users.
Requests containing offensive words or emojis will automatically be placed in a separate folder. The text of such messages will be hidden, it will be displayed only when pressed. Users will be able to accept the request, delete the post, or report it.
As explained in Instagram, filtering will be performed on users' devices. The function will not send the content of messages to the company's servers, this will only happen if the user complains to the administration of the social network.
In mid-March, the social network decided to take security measures for adolescents. Instagram has banned adult users from writing to teens they don't follow. In addition, young people have begun to be alerted to “potentially suspicious behavior” by adults, for example, if they send a lot of friend requests to people under the age of 18.
