The new paradigm requires new rules yet to be defined and assimilated, such as cyberharassment or bullying. According to the organization Save the children, 70% of Spanish young people between 18 and 20 years old have suffered cyberbullying throughout their lives. Instagram has decided to look for solutions to the bullying problem, and has just taken an important step.
It is not the first time that a social network takes measures against harassment. Facebook already did it. Twitter, for its part, has also been introducing measures against violence on its networks and even against suicidal tendencies. Instagram has gone one step further with two new features.
INSTAGRAM MEASUREMENTS
From Instagram, Adam Mosseri has expressed in a statement the commitment of this social network against cyberbullying. What’s more, they intend to be the platform that leads this movement. ¨Our mission is to connect you with the people and things you love, which only works if people feel comfortable expressing themselves like on Instagram¨ Adam Mosseri.
All this will be possible thanks to the Artificial Intelligence that they themselves have developed. After years of observation and analysis of interactions between users, they have acquired deep knowledge on the subject. And not only that, but they are capable of detecting when cyberbullying occurs
Instagram has decided to incorporate two new features to the platform. One will be for people who carry out this harassment, so that they reconsider when they write a message. The second measure will allow you to restrict comments from those people that users consider.
HOW IT WORKS ON INSTAGRAM
So that the harasser can reflect, they have created a warning message before making the publication. Once the message is written, if Instagram finds harassment, while the publication process is still open, it will give you the possibility to undo it and asks you the question: ¨¿are you sure you want to publish this?¨. This is where that brief space is introduced for the user to decide if they should really post something that could cause harm.
Instagram trusts that it will change the situation. They claim to have data that supports this new functionality. In the tests they have carried out, they have shown that there are people who decide not to publish. No percentages have been provided in this regard, so we will have to wait to know them to verify their reliability.
FUNCTIONALITIES PROVIDED BY INSTAGRAM
`Restrict´ is another functionality that Instagram incorporates and allows the victim to restrict the interactions of their harasser without them knowing. This App will be responsible for hiding the harasser’s comments on the publications of the person suffering the aggression from other users. However, they will both see them. That is, it does not delete the person’s comment, but it helps limit the visibility of this type of message.
Once the offensive message is published, the user will only have to select it, and in the upper right part of the screen click on the `warning´ symbol. Then two options will appear on the screen, report the comment or restrict it. Once an option is chosen, the harasser’s visibility is limited.
Both limitations will apply to comments that only both will see and to direct messages, where the attacker will not see if their message has been read. Additionally, if there is a `restrict´ on a person, they will not be able to see if the person who put it on is active on Instagram.
Many people might think that reporting or blocking the user should be enough. But Instagram has detected that many victims do not want to do that so that the situation does not worsen. This occurs especially in cases where this interaction is not only virtual, but also occurs in reality. For this reason, they have decided to develop this functionality, with which the person receiving the abuse can feel safer.
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