Has Instagram banned self-harm images and what has boss Adam Mosseri said about the sites policy on graphic images?
The social media giant came under fire after images after a teenager took her own life after look at disturbing images on the site
INSTAGRAM along with its parent company Facebook has been struggling to contain the flow of self-harm images on its site.
The issue was brought into sharp focus by the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who took her own life after viewing disturbing posts relating to depression and suicide on the site.
Has Instagram banned self-harm images?
Instagram has announced it is banning graphic images of self-harm.
The move came after Health Secretary Matt Hancock said social media companies "need to do more" to curb their impact on teenagers' mental health.
The photo-sharing platform announced a series of changes to its content rules.
These include ban on graphic images of self-harm and the removal of non-graphic images of self-harm from searches, hashtags, and the explore tab.
Molly Russell’s family found material relating to depression and suicide when they looked at her Instagram account after her death.
Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said the company plans to introduce "sensitivity screens"; which blur images of self-harm on the app.
These screens will appear on any content that involves cutting and will mean that the images won't be "immediately visible" to other users.
What has boss Adam Mosseri said about the sites policy on graphic images?
According to Mosseri, Instagram won't be removing self-harm images automatically, however.
"We don't allow people to promote self-injury, but because of the advice we've received, we don't want to stigmatise mental health by deleting images that reflect the very hard and sensitive issues people are struggling with.
"Instead, for images that don't promote self-harm, we let them stay on the platform.
"But moving forward, we won't recommend them in search, hashtags or the Explore tab."
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He admitted that to date his team weren't doing a good enough job.
"Nothing is more important to me than the safety of the people who use Instagram,” said.
“We are not where we need to be on self-harm and suicide, and we need to do more to protect the most vulnerable in our community. I have a responsibility to get this right.
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