Instagram is updating its hate-speech policy with regards to hateful messages through Direct message. The photo-sharing app has announced that it will disable the accounts of people who send offensive messages to make the platform safe to use.
According to the new policy, Instagram will restrict the DMs options for an undefined period for the first-time offenders and disable the account of the repeat-offenders.
“We'll disable new accounts created to get around our messaging restrictions, and will continue to disable accounts we find that are created purely to send abusive messages," Instagram said in a statement
The new policy introduced by the company will ban the attacks on people based on protected characteristics, including race or religion, as well as "more implicit forms of hate speech," like content depicting blackface and anti-Semitic tropes.
Instagram also said that it will also cooperate with law enforcement when necessary to assist in hate speech cases. The update came into action after the UK soccer stars faced racist abuse on Instagram after losing a match.
