Instagram CEO Says It Will Be Analyzing How Its Policies Affect Black Users, Will Look Into Harassment, Algorithmic Bias And More

Instagram announced it will be looking into the effects its policies have on Black users.

On Monday, the CEO of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced the company would be moving forward to “better support the black community” by reviewing the policies it currently has in place, as well as how it offers content and deals with harassment and verification, The Verge reports. While Mosseri didn’t go into detail about what exactly the company plans to do, he did highlight that the concerns from Black users have been heard and noted.

“The irony that we’re a platform that stands for elevating Black voices, but at the same time Black people are often harassed, afraid of being ‘shadowbanned,’ and disagree with many content takedowns, is not lost on me,” Mosseri said in a statement. He continued saying that Instagram is “hearing concern” about the Facebook-owned social media app, not providing an equal amount of opportunities, products, and resources to Black IG users. “This is a moment when people around the world are rightfully demanding actions over words, and we owe the same to our community,” added Mosseri.

Mosseri says the company plans to focus on four areas of issues, which include harassment, verification, distribution, and algorithmic bias. In addition, IG will also look at the safety concerns of Black users on and off the site. It will also analyze its Instagram verification process and how it may be biased towards certain groups of people. The social media platform will collect information on how the content is being filtered to see if Black people are not receiving the same amount of promotion as other groups. Instagram claims it will be more open about how people’s posts are being distributed and will take “take a harder look” at whether algorithmic bias is resulting in the decisions the app makes.

“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 that goal,” said Mosseri.