Ever since Facebook (now Meta) admitted that Instagram harms teens’ mental health, users have started to push for the platform to fix this problem. And since social networks owe it to their users, Instagram has gone to work: now they will hide all posts that could offend you before you report them .
Remember that Instagram already removes posts that have been verified to contain hate speech. However, with this new change, it will not be necessary for users to report a post for the platform to take action. Instagram’s new algorithm is able to place posts that you could report lower in your feed.
You will no longer have to report so much on Instagram: now you will see fewer offensive posts
The social network revealed that if its “systems” detect that a post may contain harassment, hate speech or incitement to violence , they will show it further down in your Instagram feed or Stories. That way, you’re less likely to see it, be offended, and report it.
That in turn means they wo n’t remove the potentially offending post if no one reports it . They will only give you less visibility so that certain users will not be able to see it. In the event that a user sees it and is offended, they can report it as they have always done and wait for Instagram to make a decision on the matter.
Why doesn’t Instagram remove posts that its algorithms detect as offensive outright? For two reasons: algorithms can be wrong and users are not all the same . There are users who are more easily offended than others with certain things, so Instagram tries to have a flexible level of censorship to keep everyone happy.
And how does Instagram know that content could offend you? Simple: They review your reporting history and compare the posts you’ve reported to the posts they’ll show you in your feed . If there is a significant match, they will try to hide as much as possible those posts that you will surely report.
Instagram is working on improving the accuracy of its content moderation
The platform also clarified that they are now taking steps like seeing if a post’s description is similar to a post that previously broke the rules to make their offensive content detection algorithm as accurate as possible. They mentioned that they are focused on improving the accuracy of the algorithm to only remove content that actually violates the rules.
The purpose of all this is none other than to keep users happy: to show them content that they value while minimizing the probability that they will find content that could be annoying . However, criticism from defenders of freedom of expression is to be expected in the face of these changes. Some already argue that Instagram is trying to censor controversial views. And you… what do you think about it?
Source | Instagram official blog
