Instagram gives boot to fake likes and followers
If you’re on Instagram, and you get a kick out of seeing new “likes” of your posts and getting new followers you’ve never heard of, get ready to be disappointed. Those numbers might soon drop. As part of its ongoing efforts to secure its platform, Instagram said it has begun to remove what it calls “inauthentic” likes, followers and comments from the accounts of users that use third-party apps as a means of raising the popularity of their posts.
The company said in a blog post that it was taking such steps in order to ensure the security of its community guidelines and usage terms.
“Every day, people come to Instagram to have real experiences, including genuine interactions,” the company said.
“It is our responsibility to ensure these experiences aren’t disrupted by inauthentic activity.”
Instagram said it is employing machine learning tools — artificial intelligence technology that lets computers “learn” from the data they receive without having to be reprogrammed — to identify and remove suspicious accounts.
Any accounts that Instagram identifies as using the improper third-party apps will receive an inapp message telling them that the inauthentic likes, follows and comments have been removed, then ask those users to secure their account by changing their password.
Instagram’s move comes as its owner, Facebook, continues to deal with negative attention over how its platform has been used by political groups and other organizations in order to disseminate so-called “fake news” and also influence public opinion on a variety of issues.
Recently, Facebook said it removed 85 Instagram accounts it deemed to be engaged in “co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour” ahead of the Nov. 6 U.S. midterm elections.