Instagram Limits Lets Users Lock Down Their Accounts When Bullies Flood In

Instagram's Adam Mosseri has published a new video addressing the presence of hate speech, including racism, on its platform, as well as some of the tools it offers users who want better control over what is said on their posts. In addition to those existing tools, Mosseri confirmed that Instagram is also working on a new feature called Limits that'll allow users to temporarily lock down their accounts.

Instagram has multiple features that enable users to limit bullying and harassment, including the option to restrict comments, prevent ones with certain words from being published, and more. Limits will join this array to offer users in a crisis a more drastic option when needed: total, but temporary, account lockdown.

Mosseri pointed out and condemned the post-Euro 2020 final harassment that swept across Instagram earlier this month, explaining that this kind of behavior is unacceptable, but also impossible to entirely prevent. That's where the tools come in, giving users an element of control.

Some Twitter users recently published screenshots of a new Limits feature that locks down comments and messages from others. Mosseri confirmed the existence of this feature during his video talking about the wider issue of hate speech on Instagram, noting that it isn't widely available to everyone yet.

The idea behind Limits is that there may be times when a user faces a flood of angry or hateful messages, making it difficult to remove them all. This could send someone into a mental health spiral, at which point it'd be better to avoid the content entirely. Limits is available in the Instagram app's privacy controls menu. The company hasn't yet provided a launch date for when the new feature will be available to everyone.