Facebook-owned Instagram announced on Wednesday that it’s launching a new tool to help users automatically filter out direct messages (DMs) that contain offensive words, phrases, and even emojis.
The tool is geared toward celebrities and public figures, who receive unwanted DMs in their message requests, the social media platform explained in its announcement.
“We know that many in our community, particularly people with larger followings, have faced abuse in their DM request inbox from people they don’t follow,” Instagram said.
“Because DMs are private conversations, we don’t proactively look for hate speech or bullying the same way we do elsewhere on Instagram,” the site added. “That’s why we’re introducing a new tool which, when turned on, will automatically filter DM requests containing offensive words, phrases and emojis, so you never have to see them.”
Instagram also said the tool will focus on message requests, “because this is where people usually receive abusive messages — unlike your regular DM inbox, where you receive messages from friends.”
The tool will allow users to toggle on or off a feature of the app called “Hidden Words.” If a user decides to utilize this feature, “all DM requests that contain these offensive words, phrases, or emojis will be automatically filtered into a separate hidden requests folder.”
“If you choose to open the folder, the message text will be covered so you’re not confronted with offensive language, unless you tap to uncover it,” Instagram explained. “You then have the option to accept the message request, delete it, or report it.”
The company added that it has “worked with leading anti-discrimination and anti-bullying organizations to develop a predefined list of offensive terms that will be filtered from DM requests when the feature is turned on.”
“We know different words can be hurtful to different people, so you’ll also have the option to create your own custom list of words, phrases or emojis that you don’t want to see in your DM requests,” Instagram elaborated.
The new tool, according to Instagram, will also allow users to make “it harder for someone who you’ve already blocked from contacting you again through a new account.”
“With this feature, whenever you decide to block someone on Instagram, you’ll have the option to both block their account and preemptively block new accounts that person may create,” Instagram said, adding that the tool “will be available globally in the next few weeks.”
This tool is the latest attempt by Instagram to filter user content. In February, the company announced it would start disabling the accounts of users who continuously “send violating messages.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler @alana, and on Instagram.
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