Instagram sensitivity filter censoring our work, complain creators

Creators and people from all sorts of communities, including art world, sex workers, tattoo artists and the cannabis industry are facing similar problems with their posts, reports The Verge.

New Delhi:Earlier this week, Facebook had announced a new feature that allows Instagram users to see how much potentially sensitive content they might see and take action accordingly. Now, several users are complaining that the new sensitive content filter is blocking their posts.

Creators and people from all sorts of communities, including art world, sex workers, tattoo artists and the cannabis industry are facing similar problems with their posts, reports The Verge.

“Over the past 24 hours, I’ve had many conversations with artists and other creators who are incredibly frustrated by having their work hidden,” Phillip Miner, an artist and creator of queer hobby magazine, Natural Pursuits posted.

“Conversely, people are frustrated that they can’t find the content the want to see,” Miner added.

The new feature allows Instagram users to decide how much sensitive content shows up in the Explore tab. It gives Instagram users an ability to turn off comments or restrict someone from interacting with them.

Regardless of the filter, putting all kinds of sensitive content under one umbrella is the bigger issue.

Instagram said that creators need not worry.

“The change will have no impact on what users see in their feed or in Stories, where we will continue showing them posts from people they follow,” an Instagram spokesperson was quoted as saying in the report on Friday.

The users can decide whether to keep the setting at its default state, Limit, or to see more, Allow, or less of some types of sensitive content, Limit Even More.

The social network said that its Community Guidelines outline what kind of content can be on Instagram, and the point of these guidelines is to keep people safe.

“We don’t allow hate speech, bullying or other content that might present a risk of harm to people. We also have rules about what kind of content we show you in places like Explore; we call these our Recommendation Guidelines,” the company had emphasised.

With an aim to curb targeted harassment, Instagram is also testing a new feature called “Limits”.

The new feature will allow users to lock their accounts and limit any potential interactions when they feel they’re the target of harassment.