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Instagram will change its rules around banning accounts

All users will be allotted the same number of violations before being removed.

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Abrar Al-Heeti Video producer / CNET
Abrar Al-Heeti is a video host and producer for CNET, with an interest in internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. Before joining the video team, she was a writer for CNET's culture team. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco -- steep inclines and all.
Expertise Abrar has spent her career at CNET breaking down the latest trends on TikTok, Twitter and Instagram, while also reporting on diversity and inclusion initiatives in Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Credentials
  • Named a Tech Media Trailblazer by the Consumer Technology Association in 2019, a winner of SPJ NorCal's Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2022 and has three times been a finalist in the LA Press Club's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards.
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Abrar Al-Heeti
Instagram

Instagram is tightening restrictions.

 Getty Images

Instagram is working on new guidelines for account removals.

The photo sharing site plans to roll out a new policy in which accounts are taken down after a certain number of violations in a particular time frame. The number of violations and how much time is allotted weren't disclosed because the company doesn't want people taking advantage of the guidelines.

Currently, accounts are allowed a "certain percentage" of violations within a period of time before they're banned. But users who post more often are then allowed more violations. 

With the new policy, all users will be held to the same standard. 

Last week, Instagram and parent company Facebook banned conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and far-right commentators Milo Yiannopoulos and Laura Loomer. Facebook has faced mounting pressure from civil rights groups to tackle hate speech, especially after a gunman used the platform to livestream an attack at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

In March, Facebook said it was banning white nationalist and separatist content from its platform. However, more than a month after the New Zealand attacks, Facebook and Instagram were still hosting videos of the shootings.

Originally published May 8, 1:12 p.m. PT.
Update, 2:53 p.m.: Adds confirmation from Instagram.