Strengthening Our Commitment to Safety and Kindness for 800 Million

Today, we’re announcing new tools and programs to keep Instagram a safe and positive place for self-expression. Since the beginning, we’ve tried to make Instagram a welcoming place for everyone. Our community has grown to 800 million, with 500 million using it every day. It’s more important than ever to strengthen our commitment to safety and kindness.

Comment Controls

Over time, we’ve launched a number of tools to help you manage the comments experience, and today we’re introducing more. Starting today, if your account is public, you’ll see a new way to choose who can comment on your posts – from everyone to just groups of people, like people you follow or your followers. Also, whether your account is public or private, you’ll be able to block other accounts from commenting on your posts. In June, we launched a filter to block certain offensive comments in English, today we are expanding this filter to Arabic, French, German, and Portuguese. The filter will improve over time, enabling the community’s experience of sharing to improve as well.

Anonymous Reporting for Live Video

We’re continuing to provide mental health resources to you when you need them most. If you see someone going through a difficult time or in need of support during a live broadcast, you can report it anonymously. The person will see a message offering help with options to talk to a helpline, reach out to a friend or get other tips and support. We have teams working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, around the world to respond.

Kindness Walls and Stickers

Over the next few months, we’re turning walls in cities around the world into colorful murals inspiring #KindComments. Visit a wall, take a photo or video and share a #KindComment to make someone’s day. You can also participate by using a new kindness-themed heart-shaped sticker. Both the murals and stickers are created by artists from the global community.

We feel as strongly about creating a safe and welcoming environment today as we did when our community was just getting started. To learn more about these tools and others, visit about.instagram.com/community. Thank you for being on this journey with us, and for taking care of each other.

Kevin Systrom

Co-Founder and CEO