Instagram is the latest social media website to take serious measures against fake accounts, which increase the audience of hundreds of real Instagram users. These third party apps have been around for a while, leaving spam comments, fake follows and likes when interacted with.
On November 19, Instagram published a blog post where they explained their new security feature, claiming they want to keep the app as an authentic space, where users can have real experiences and interactions.
Starting today, we will begin removing inauthentic likes, follows and comments from accounts that use third-party apps to boost their popularity. We’ve built machine learning tools to help identify accounts that use these services and remove the inauthentic activity.
Fake followers and likes are prevalent on Instagram, especially now that it’s become a legitimate place of work for bloggers, influencers, and more. The company’s blog post also explains that users who have benefited from fake accounts will get a notification explaining that fake likes, comments and followers have been removed from their accounts, and that this sort of behavior goes against the social media platform’s Community Guidelines.
Users who employ the services of third party apps usually have to pay for this, providing their login and password information. “Their accounts are sometimes used by third-party apps for inauthentic likes, follows and comments. Not only does this introduce bad behavior into the Instagram community, it also makes these accounts less secure,” reads the Instagram blog post. These users will have to change their passwords in order to keep using their Instagram accounts, and will also have their experience impacted if they keep using banned apps.
This focus on policy enforcement and online security measures follows the involvement of Facebook and Instagram in polarizing scandals that have influenced different elections throughout the world.
