Instagram Updates Disable Policy, Tests Removal of Likes

CYBERSPACE—Instagram announced Thursday that it and parent company Facebook have implemented some significant new changes in regard to the deletion of posts on the photo-sharing platform, as well as the disabling of accounts for violating its community guidelines. Most notably, the company has introduced a new notification feature that will inform users if a post has been removed or if their account is in danger of being disabled. The notification will both identify the reason for the deletion or potential disablement, and in the case of the former, offer the user a chance to appeal the decision. "To start, appeals will be available for content deleted for violations of our nudity and pornography, bullying and harassment, hate speech, drug sales, and counter-terrorism policies," the announcement states, "but we'll be expanding appeals in the coming months. If content is found to be removed in error, we will restore the post and remove the violation from the account's record." [Emphasis added.] The last part of the above excerpt holds particular importance, because under the updated policy, as the announcement states earlier on, "in addition to removing accounts with a certain percentage of violating content, we will also remove accounts with a certain number of violations within a window of time. Similarly to how policies are enforced on Facebook, this change will allow us to enforce our policies more consistently and hold people accountable for what they post on Instagram." In other words, successfully appealed violations should not count toward the "percentage of violating content" that would trigger Instagram to disable a user's account. In the event of a disablement, however, the announcement says, "We've always given people the option to appeal disabled accounts through our Help Center, and in the next few months, we'll bring this experience directly within Instagram." As AVN has previosuly reported, this promise of an in-app appeal tool was first announced in early May. Instagram also announced via Twitter on Wednesday that it is currently testing out the removal of publicly viewable likes and video views on the platform "for some people" in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand. "We want your friends to focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get," the company said in a follow-up tweet. "You can still see your own likes by tapping on the list of people who've liked it, but your friends will not be able to see how many likes your post has received." AVN reminds adult industry fans and members that it has created its own social media platform, AVN Stars, free of the limitations imposed by Instagram and others. Explore AVN Stars at stars.avn.com.