Instagram restricts offensive captions to curb hate speech, abusive conduct

Instagram is using Artificial Intelligence to detect bullying and other types of harmful content.

(Web Desk) – Facebook-owned Instagram, after giving its users power to restrict bullies on its platform, has now announced to extend its anti-bullying tool to hurtful captions on photos and videos.

Instagram is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect bullying and other types of harmful content in comments, photos and videos, and potentially with an ability to warn users before they post offensive captions with their posts.

The move by Instagram is the latest in a series of actions on cyberbullying by social networks to deal with hate speech and abusive conduct which can be especially harmful to young users.

"It’s our responsibility to create a safe environment on Instagram," Adam Mosseri, the Head of Instagram, stated.

If someone bullies users on an Instagram caption on their photos or videos, it will immediately be flagged with a notification: "This caption looks similar to others that have been reported".

Starting today, we’re rolling out a new feature that notifies people when their captions may be considered offensive, and gives them a chance to pause and reconsider their words before posting. Learn more: https://t.co/J6etoRmznr pic.twitter.com/C4VxlZOY2i

- Instagram (@instagram) December 16, 2019

The user will be given the option to revise the message or share it anyway. The "Caption Warning" feature is yet another step to prevent cyberbullying on Instagram.

In October, Instagram rolled out "Restrict" feature globally that lets users stop people who bully them via offensive posts or abusive comments.

You can restrict someone by swiping left on a comment, through the Privacy tab in the Settings, or directly on the profile of the account you intend to restrict.

"Once Restrict is enabled, comments on your posts from a person you have restricted will only be visible to that person," the company had said.

You can choose to view the comment by tapping "See Comment"; approve the comment so everyone can see it, delete it or ignore it.

Direct messages will automatically move to Message Request, and users will not receive notifications from a restricted account.

The company also announced to restrict people under age 18 from viewing posts from celebrity influencers that promote cosmetic surgery and various weight-loss products.