Instagram has become a popular platform for the Black Lives Matter movement, with supporters using the social network to demand justice, express solidarity, support businesses, amplify voices, and raise awareness. But while a revolution is raging on the surface, Instagram is reconciling how it treats equality at the core.
What We Know:
- In a blog post Monday, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said Facebook-owned Instagram has been “hearing concern about whether we suppress Black voices and whether our products and policies treat everyone equally”.
- Instagram is reviewing four areas of potential concern for the app specifically affecting Black users. According to Mosseri these areas are: harassment; account verification (with plans to make changes to “ensure it’s as inclusive as possible”); distribution (how content is filtered on Explore and Hashtag pages to determine where there may be vulnerability to bias); and algorithmic bias.
- After examining how Instagram’s policies and products affect Black users, the service will also look at how it can improve serving other underrepresented groups. Mosseri said feedback in the past year from communities like LGBTQ+ groups, body-positivity activists, and artists “has helped us build a more inclusive product”.
- Separately, Instagram announced on Monday a new feature to make it easier to create fundraisers for organizations supporting racial justice. Users can now tap on the “Donation” sticker in Instagram Stories to pull up a new “Act for Racial Justice” section that will highlight the ACLU, the BAIL Project, the Equal Justice Initiative, the Innocence Project and the Marshall Project.
- Mosseri concluded saying, “Our goal is that Instagram is a place where everyone feels safe, supported, and free to express themselves, and I’m hoping this work will get us closer to the goal.”
We shall see if Instagram follows through.
