Instagram introduces new features to fight online bullying

Instagram wants to fight online bullying with some new features aimed at making the platform safer.

The new feature will allow users to choose who can tag and mention them in posts and delete negative comments in bulk.

Users will also be able to pin a select number of positive comments to the top of the comments section of a post rather than just have them in order posted.

Earlier, the platform was criticised for not acting quickly against abusive and dangerous content.

A Restrict tool was introduced in 2019 by developers to let users block people leaving nasty comments about them in response to their posts.

“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,” Instagram said in a statement.

“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.”

Instagram is also adding a new feature to 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,” a spokesperson said.

“Early feedback has been encouraging, and we’ve found that it helps people, especially with larger followings, maintain a positive environment on their account.”