Your Shield Against Intrusion: Discover Instagram’s New Defense for Unwanted Messages

Social media platforms are ramping up privacy measures that are mostly user-centric. In this regard, the social media giant Instagram is rolling out a new feature to enhance the privacy of users. The new feature safeguards users from unwanted messages and media in DMs.

How does the new feature work? 

The new feature will impose a couple of restrictions on people looking to send DM requests to Insta users who don’t follow them.

First Restriction:

After the launch of the first restriction, you will be able to send only one message to users who don’t follow you, unlike before, when you were able to send unlimited messages. Moreover, you will only be able to continue to send them DMs once they accept your request to chat.

Second Restriction:

The DM invites have now been limited to text only, which implies that users can now only send media or voice notes to a person who has accepted your request to chat.

Instagram states that the latest feature will be specifically beneficial for females, as they often receive obscene content in their DMs.

In a statement, Cindy Southworth who is the head of Women’s safety at Meta said,

We want people to feel confident and in control when they open their inbox. That’s why we’re testing new features that mean people can’t receive images, videos, or multiple messages from someone they don’t follow until they’ve accepted the request to chat. We’re grateful for the feedback we hear from our community — and we’ll keep listening to find ways to help everyone feel safer on Instagram.