Instagram has gotten a lot of well-earned praise for its in-app safety tools, and an upcoming update is taking these to the next level. In a post today, Instagram co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom announced a new “screen” that can be placed over certain content:
“Soon you may notice a screen over sensitive photos and videos when you scroll through your feed or visit a profile. While these posts don’t violate our guidelines, someone in the community has reported them and our review team has confirmed they are sensitive.”
You’ll still have access to what is behind that screen, by tapping to remove it, Systrom said. The screen shows an eye with a line through it and the warning, “This photo contains sensitive content with some people may find offensive or disturbing.” At the bottom you can press "see photo."
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What counts as "sensitive content"? The update will address graphic or violent material, such as posts dealing with animal abuse or humanitarian crises. People who post these images will not know that their image has been covered with a screen until they look at it in their profile feed.
Tagging photos as “sensitive” and giving users more control over what they see on their feed is a positive thing. However, if certain photos are improperly tagged as such, Instagram could face heat for it. All you need to do is look at YouTube’s current struggle with its “restricted mode" to know how things can go wrong.
Instagram also announced a new safety resources site, instagram-together.com. TechCrunch reports that Instagram will also be bringing a much-needed security tool to all users, two-factor authentication, which adds an extra layer of identification to your account. Go to the gear icon in your profile page, select “Two-Factor Authentication," and toggle on "Require Security Code" to enable.
This piece was updated with additional information about what will qualify as "sensitive content."
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