Instagram tests Limits feature to tackle targeted harassment

Instagram is testing a new feature called “Limits” that allows users to lock out their accounts and limit potential interactions when they feel the target of harassment. Introducing the tool, Instagram manager Adam Mosseri referred to the recent Euro 2020 final, which saw the England national team face a flood of harassment following England’s defeat against Italy when the match ended in penalties.

“Racism and hate speech have no place on Instagram,” Mosseri said in an he video. “It’s not only honestly fucked up to see people treated this way, but it disrupts the way Instagram works.”

Trying to reduce harassment on the platform, Mosseri said Instagram plans to try to reduce hate speech to “as close to zero as possible.” However, knowing that it will likely be impossible to completely eradicate all forms of racism from the app, the company also plans to give people new tools that will allow them to “take back some power.” This is where Limits fits in. “We know people are sometimes in temporary times of real risk and pain, and we need to give them tools to protect themselves,” Mosseri said of the feature.

Ahead of a large-scale rollout, Instagram is currently testing the limits in some countries around the world. In the meantime, Mosseri has vowed the company will have more to share on how it plans to tackle racism on Instagram in the coming months.