Instagram Deploying AI to Help Combat Online Bullying

Many a parent has taught their children to pause and count to 10 before replying, especially when provoked. Unfortunately, in the digital age, such restraint has become a rare thing. It seems that Instagram, however, is working on bringing it back.

According to a blog post, the company has launched an AI-based tool to help identify captions on photos and videos that could be considered offensive or bullying, and give people “a chance to pause and reconsider their words before posting.” This builds on a similar AI-based feature rolled out in July that notified individuals when their comments might be considered offensive, giving them a chance to change them.

By rolling this feature out to include photo and video captions, Instagram hopes it will further help combat bullying, as well as inform people of what is and is not acceptable.

“Today, when someone writes a caption for a feed post and our AI detects the caption as potentially offensive, they will receive a prompt informing them that their caption is similar to those reported for bullying. They will have the opportunity to edit their caption before it’s posted.

“In addition to limiting the reach of bullying, this warning helps educate people on what we don’t allow on Instagram, and when an account may be at risk of breaking our rules. To start, this feature will be rolling out in select countries, and we’ll begin expanding globally in the coming months.”

As social media companies are increasingly under scrutiny for how they handle bullying and hate speech—with some accusing them of censorship and others accusing them of not doing enough—Instagram seems to be finding a nice balance.