Continuing Our Work to Fight Online Bullying

Posted on May 12, 2020

Today, we’re sharing the fifth edition of our Community Standards Enforcement report which tracks our progress to keep Facebook and Instagram safe. In addition to this report, we’re announcing new features that mark the continuation of our effort to lead the industry in the fight against online bullying.

Managing unwanted interactions

3 screenshots of bulk comment management

First, we’re launching a new feature to help people manage multiple unwanted interactions at once. We know it can feel overwhelming to manage a rush of negative comments, so we’ve been testing the ability to delete comments in bulk, as well as block or restrict multiple accounts that post negative comments. Early feedback has been encouraging, and we’ve found that it helps people, especially with larger followings, maintain a positive environment on their account.

To enable this feature on iOS, tap on a comment and then the dotted icon in the top right corner. Select Manage Comments and choose up to 25 comments to delete at once. Tap More Options to block or restrict accounts in bulk. To block or restrict accounts on Android, press and hold on a comment, tap the dotted icon and select Block or Restrict.

Highlighting positive comments

3 screenshots of Pinned Comments

In addition to removing negative comments, we want to give people an easy way to amplify and encourage positive interactions. Soon, we’ll begin testing Pinned Comments. This feature gives people a way to set the tone for their account and engage with their community by pinning a select number of comments to the top of their comments thread.

Choosing who can tag and mention you

3 screenshots of Tag and Mention Controls

We’ve seen that tags and mentions can be used to target or bully others, so we’re rolling out new controls that allow you to manage who can tag or mention you on Instagram. You can choose whether you want everyone, only people you follow or no one to be able to tag or mention you in a comment, caption or Story.

Learn more about comment management in the Instagram Help Center.