Instagram was immediately called out for suddenly (and surprisingly) loosening its content moderation policies, which resulted in a mass push of unwarranted disturbing videos. Meta, Instagram’s parent company, acknowledged the issue and issued a public apology. They stated the issue is now resolved. Instagram’s “Sensitive Content Control” works to protect its users from any content that can be deemed violent or graphic. However, that too, wasn’t enough to detect the heap of disturbing imagery that people were exposed to. We apologize for the mistake. In a statement last month, “More Speech and Fewer Mistakes,” Meta stated that it will prioritize “high-severity violations,” instead of scanning for all policy violations, as part of its commitment to free expression. It isn’t entirely clear if this event of “looser restrictions” was part of Meta’s plans, but there’s no denying how wrong they got it this time. This is all we know for now, but rest assured that we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.
