Instagram tightens rules on self-injury images

SAN FRANCISCO: Instagram on Thursday announced it is clamping down on images related to self-injury, such as cutting.

The move came after British Health Secretary Matt Hancock met social media companies about doing more to safeguard the mental health of teenagers using their platforms.

British teenager Molly Russell was found dead in her bedroom in 2017. The 14-year-old had apparently taken her own life, and her Instagram account reportedly revealed she followed accounts related to depression and suicide.

“It is encouraging to see that decisive steps are being taken to try to protect children from disturbing content on Instagram,” said the girl’s father, Ian Russell.

“It is now time for other social media platforms to take action to recognise the responsibility they, too, have to their users if the Internet is to become a safe place for young and vulnerable people.”

Changes to Instagram’s selfharm content rules follow a comprehensive review involving experts and academics from around the world on youth, mental health and suicide, according to chief executive Adam Mosseri.

“Over the past month, we have seen that we are not where we need to be on self-harm and suicide, and that we need to do more to keep the most vulnerable people who use Instagram safe,” Mosseri said.

“We will not allow any graphic images of self-harm, such as cutting, on Instagram — even if it would previously have been allowed as admission.”

Instagram has never allowed posts that promote or encourage suicide or self-harm.

The Facebook-owned service is removing references to nongraphic content related to people hurting themselves, such as healed scars, from search, hashtag, explore, or recommendation features.

“We are not removing this type of content from Instagram entirely, as we don’t want to stigmatise or isolate people who may be in distress and posting selfharm related content as a cry for help,” Mosseri said.