Instagram Expands Anti-Harassment Tool to Help Teens Combat Bullying

Instagram is expanding its “Limits” tool to help teenagers restrict unwanted interactions from everyone except users in their “Close Friends” group.

According to TechCrunch, Instagram announced last week that it had tailored its “Limits” feature for teens by enabling the “Close Friends” setting by default. This adjustment is intended to protect teens from bullying and harassment.

By activating the limiting interactions feature, teens will only see comments, tags, replies, mentions or messages from their close friends, while interactions from other accounts will be muted.

Meta, Instagram’s parent company, initially tested this safety control tool in 2021 to help creators and public figures deal with abuse and harassment campaigns. However, the feature was soon rolled out platform-wide for anyone to use and restrict unwanted DMs and comments.

According to TechCrunch, the “Limits” tool previously enabled users to restrict interactions solely with accounts they followed or long-term followers. However, recent refinements now permit users to limit interactions with recent followers and unknown accounts as well. Furthermore, it hides updates from the restricted accounts without notifying them that they’ve been added to the limit interactions list. Users can activate this feature for up to 4 weeks at a time.

In a bid to fortify user safety against unwelcome interactions, Instagram also introduced a new functionality to its “Restrict” feature. This enhancement enables users to discreetly limit interactions with specific accounts without resorting to blocking or unfollowing them.

Earlier this year, Meta also introduced new restrictions preventing adults over 18 from messaging teenagers who do not follow them, alongside a feature to blur nudity in Instagram DMs for teens.

These developments mark Instagram’s continued efforts to enhance the safety of its young users, particularly in the face of heightened scrutiny from regulators in the US and European Union.