Instagram Cracks Down on "Fake News" With New Flagging Tool

Joining Facebook‘s fight against misinformation, Instagram recently launched a flagging tool designed to combat “fake news.” Launching first in the US, the tool will alert a group of third-party fact-checkers when false information is flagged. Users can flag content by tapping the three-dot menu in the top-right corner, hitting “Report” and citing “It’s inappropriate” with a “False information” note. If a post is deemed to be misinformation, it may be suppressed from the explore page or removed altogether.

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri took to Twitter to note the launch and say, “Misinformation is an issue I’ve personally spent a lot of time on. I’m proud that starting today, people can let us know if they see posts on Instagram they believe may be false.”

Instagram plans to roll out the tool to all regions at the end of August following the launch in the United States.

In case you missed it, a case maker recently revealed the naming scheme for Apple’s iPhone 11.

Misinformation is an issue I’ve personally spent a lot of time on. I’m proud that, starting today, people can let us know if they see posts on Instagram they believe may be false. There’s still more to do to stop the spread of misinformation, more to come:https://t.co/SRYwvgqPaz

— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) August 15, 2019