Now, Instagram will warn before banning accounts
What's the story
Instagram is reinforcing its stance against policy violation and introducing a new warning system to let people know their account is about to be banned.
The Facebook-owned photo-sharing giant has said that users violating its policies on multiple occasions will get a ban alert so that they could mend their ways and continue using the platform.
Here's everything about it.
Change #1
How this warning system would work
Instagram bans an account if it is often found to be sharing hateful, sexually explicit content (among other things) - either through comments, stories or photos.
The company will enforce this policy but instead of banning the users right away, it will first show a warning saying: "If you post something that goes against our guidelines again, your account may be deleted."
Details
Warning will list history of explicit posts
The alert will also have a history of all the explicit posts, comments, and stories Instagram's moderators have had to flag and remove in recent months.
In addition to this, it will also show the reason why the post was taken down, like if it had content related to hate speech, bullying or something associated with harassment, nudity or sexual activity.
Appeal system
Users will also get a chance to appeal Instagram's decision
Instagram's warning will give users a way to mend their ways and save their accounts from being deactivated.
But, if you think the service pulled your posts incorrectly, the alert will also offer an option to appeal that decision.
Notably, the appeal option would initially be available only for content related to nudity and pornography, bullying and harassment, hate speech, drug sales, and counter-terrorism.
Information
If company verifies your claim, the post will be restored
If, after reviewing your appeal, Instagram finds that the post was taken down by mistake, it will be restored and the violation instance would be removed from the account's record.
Change #2
Also, Instagram will ban accounts making violation in short span
Along with the notification system, Instagram will slightly change its banning policy.
In addition to removing accounts posting "a certain percentage of violating content," the photo-sharing company will also disable those violating its policies within a specific period of time.
The company, however, did not provide details of the time window to prevent violators from gaming the system.