Changes
415 times Instagram's guidance changed, newest first. Each shows what was said before, and what replaced it.
2021
LikesMay 2021
The planned choice became available, letting people hide like counts on feed posts they see and on their own posts.
Before
This week we unintentionally launched private like counts to a lot of people.“And so we had to put the project on the background for a while. Now obviously we picked it back up, we're trying to figure things out. Clearly it's a very polarizing idea, so now what we're looking for is is there a way for us to bring private like counts to those who are interested in it and not to those who aren't.”
After
Giving People More Control on Instagram and Facebook“Starting today, we’re giving you the option to hide like counts on all posts in your feed. You’ll also have the option to hide like counts on your own posts, so others can’t see how many likes your posts get.”
Comment controlsMay 2021
Instagram expanded its automatic filtering list and began offering an optional “Hide More Comments” setting for potentially harmful comments that may not break its rules.
Before
Instagram Features that Support #SaferInternetDay“Bullying and harassment are not allowed on Instagram, and we have tools to help protect you from negative experiences. You can block accounts that you don’t want to interact with, which means they won’t be able to see your profile or comment on your posts.”
After
Keeping Athletes Safe This Summer“A big part of how we prevent people from seeing abuse is identifying offensive content using technology. Since context is often crucial to spotting abusive language, we’re constantly training and improving our technology to catch more of this sooner.”
Bullying and harassmentApr 2021
Instagram added tools to filter abusive DM requests before people see them and to block someone from contacting them through a new account, extending its earlier focus on penalties for abusive senders.
Before
An update on our work to tackle abuse on Instagram“We want Instagram to be a place for people to connect with the people and things they love. But we also know that, just like in the offline world, there will always be those who abuse others.”
After
Introducing new tools to protect our community from abuse“We recently shared an update on our work to combat abuse and hate speech on Instagram, which included stricter penalties for people who send abusive Direct Messages (DMs). Now, we’re announcing a new way to protect people from seeing abusive DMs in the first place, as well as the ability to prevent someone you’ve blocked from contacting you from a new account.”
Comment controlsApr 2021
The manual comment filter was expanded to catch common misspellings of words on a user's custom list.
Before
Instagram Features that Support #SaferInternetDay“Bullying and harassment are not allowed on Instagram, and we have tools to help protect you from negative experiences. You can block accounts that you don’t want to interact with, which means they won’t be able to see your profile or comment on your posts.”
After
Introducing new tools to protect our community from abuse“As well as using our proactive detection technology to help catch violating comments, we offer a number of tools to help you control abuse in your comments. If you have a public account, you have the option to only allow comments from people you follow and/or are following you.”
Hidden WordsApr 2021
Keyword filtering expands from comments to DM requests, with controls under Hidden Words and matching requests sent to a hidden folder.
Before
Keeping Instagram Comments Safe“themselves without criticism or harassment. It’s not only my personal wish to do this, I believe it’s also our responsibility as a company. So, today, we’re taking the next step to ensure Instagram remains a positive place to express yourself.”
After
Introducing new tools to protect our community from abuse“comments and choose what terms you don’t want people to use in comments under your posts. You can turn both comment and DM request filters on and off in a new dedicated section of your Privacy Settings called Hidden Words.”
Comment controlsApr 2021
Restrict added an alternative to blocking commenters entirely by letting their comments remain invisible to others unless approved.
Before
Instagram Features that Support #SaferInternetDay“Bullying and harassment are not allowed on Instagram, and we have tools to help protect you from negative experiences. You can block accounts that you don’t want to interact with, which means they won’t be able to see your profile or comment on your posts.”
After
From time to time I like to call out great features on Instagram that people might not know about.“one, fear of escalating the situation because the bully can find out that they were blocked in the first place, and two, the need to keep tabs on what someone is saying so that you can be able to defend yourself should you need to.”
MisinformationMar 2021
Instagram added informational labels to posts discussing COVID-19 vaccines, extending its response beyond removing prohibited false claims.
Before
Reaching Billions of People With COVID-19 Vaccine Information“In addition to sharing reliable information, we are expanding our efforts to remove false claims on Facebook and Instagram about COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccines and vaccines in general during the pandemic. Today, following consultations with leading health organizations, including the WHO, we’re expanding the list of false claims we will remove to include additional debunked claims about COVID-19 and vaccines.”
After
Mark Zuckerberg Announces Facebook’s Plans to Help Get People Vaccinated Against COVID-19“In February, in consultation with leading health organizations, including the World Health Organization, we expanded the list of false claims we will remove during the pandemic to include additional debunked claims about the coronavirus and vaccines.”
LikesMar 2021
The private-like-count test shifted toward giving people a choice rather than hiding counts for everyone.
Before
Lots of exciting @instagram news today, launching donation stickers and shopping from creators, testing private like counts, a new camera design and a variety of ways to fight online bullying.“Lots of exciting @instagram news today, launching donation stickers and shopping from creators, testing private like counts, a new camera design and a variety of ways to fight online bullying. Much more to come! Also, this booth is unreal...”
After
This week we unintentionally launched private like counts to a lot of people.“And so we had to put the project on the background for a while. Now obviously we picked it back up, we're trying to figure things out. Clearly it's a very polarizing idea, so now what we're looking for is is there a way for us to bring private like counts to those who are interested in it and not to those who aren't.”
Instagram LiveMar 2021
Live Rooms increases the guest limit from one guest to three, allowing four people to broadcast together.
Before
Go Live on Instagram with a Friend“Starting today, we’re introducing a fun way to go live with a friend. Now, you can hang out and go live together, whether you’re just doing homework or catching up on your day. Live video helps you share in an authentic way, but sometimes it can be intimidating when you’re on your own.”
After
Doubling Up on Instagram Live With Live Rooms“Today, we’re introducing Live Rooms — giving you the ability to go Live on Instagram with up to three people. Previously, you could go live with only one other person in a stream, but now you can “double-up” on your live broadcast.”
Instagram LiveMar 2021
The Live Rooms rollout expands broadcasts from two participants to up to four.
Before
Go Live on Instagram with a Friend“Starting today, we’re introducing a fun way to go live with a friend. Now, you can hang out and go live together, whether you’re just doing homework or catching up on your day. Live video helps you share in an authentic way, but sometimes it can be intimidating when you’re on your own.”
After
It's a party Today we're rolling out Live Rooms, a way for up to four people to go Live together.“It's a party Today we're rolling out Live Rooms, a way for up to four people to go Live together. Excited to see you get into it.”
Account removalFeb 2021
Instagram toughened enforcement for rule-breaking DMs, moving from temporary messaging restrictions to disabling accounts for continued violations and disabling new accounts created to evade restrictions.
Before
Instagram Community Terms of Use FAQs“We might remove your content or restrict or delete your account if, for example, you violate our Terms or Community Guidelines. Our Terms set out the service we provide to you, and what we require of our community members.”
After
An update on our work to tackle abuse on Instagram“Today, we’re announcing that we’ll take tougher action when we become aware of people breaking our rules in DMs. Currently, when someone sends DMs that break our rules, we prohibit that person from sending any more messages for a set period of time.”
MisinformationFeb 2021
Instagram expanded the false claims it removes during the pandemic to include additional debunked claims about COVID-19 and vaccines, including vaccines in general.
Before
Keeping People Informed, Safe, and Supported on Instagram“In addition to promoting credible information throughout our app, we’re making several changes to reduce the spread of misinformation. We’ll remove COVID-19 accounts from account recommendations, and we are working to remove some COVID-19 related content from Explore, unless posted by a credible health organization.”
After
Reaching Billions of People With COVID-19 Vaccine Information“In addition to sharing reliable information, we are expanding our efforts to remove false claims on Facebook and Instagram about COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccines and vaccines in general during the pandemic. Today, following consultations with leading health organizations, including the WHO, we’re expanding the list of false claims we will remove to include additional debunked claims about COVID-19 and vaccines.”
Saved postsJan 2021
Collections are now accessed through the Save section at the top right of the profile rather than a saved-posts tab.
Before
Introducing New Ways to Organize Your Saved Posts“Starting this week, you can save posts into private collections. Tap and hold the bookmark icon underneath any post to save it directly to a collection. You can create and name a new collection when you save a post, or you can add it to one you’ve already created.”
After
Back to an earlier idea to highlight lesser known great Instagram features.“So open up Instagram. And I go to my profile, I go to the top right. There is a section called Save right here. And if you go into it, you can see your collections. And so here you got everything, all your posts and one place if you like wish list, which comes from shopping.”
2020
Instagram ShoppingNov 2020
Instagram moved from testing home-screen layouts with a Shop tab to announcing the tab’s launch.
Before
We’re starting to test different versions of Instagram’s home screen – when you open the app you’ll soon see a Reels tab and a Shop tab in one of three layouts.“We’re starting to test different versions of Instagram’s home screen – when you open the app you’ll soon see a Reels tab and a Shop tab in one of three layouts. These changes reflect shifts we’re seeing from people, both in how they use the product but also how they push culture forward on Instagram: rise of creators, explosion of video, acceleration of online shopping.”
After
Introducing Reels and Shop Tabs“Today we’re announcing some big changes to Instagram — a Reels tab and a Shop tab. The Reels tab makes it easier for you to discover short, fun videos from creators all over the world and people just like you.”
Close FriendsOct 2020
In addition to editing the list through your own profile menu, you could add someone directly from their profile.
Before
Curate Instagram Stories for Close Friends Only“Starting today, you can make a close friends list on Stories and share with just the people you’ve added. Instagram Stories has become the place to express yourself and share everyday moments, but our community has grown and sometimes what you want to share isn’t for everyone.”
After
This week on Instagram I’m adding @lilly to my close friends list!“And so what you can do is you can go to your profile, go to the menu on the top right right here, go to close friends and you can curate your list. If you don't want to do it there or you want to do it inline when you're checking out someone's profile or you know you know a friend, you can go to their profile here.”
Instagram LiveOct 2020
Purchasable Live badges move from their initial announcement to availability in 11 countries, including the US.
Before
Doing More to Support Creators on Instagram“Creators have always been at the core of our community. Since the earliest days of Instagram, they have inspired people around the world with their talents, shared their lives and built their personal brands from the ground up.”
After
Show even more love to your favorite creators.“Show even more love to your favorite creators. Now you can buy badges during Lives to support them directly in 11 countries including the US. It’s part of our larger work to help creators on Instagram – like the hilarious @youngezee – turn their passion into a living.”
Comment controlsOct 2020
Instagram began testing additional filtering that hides comments similar to reported comments and lets users inspect them through View Hidden Comments.
Before
Bully Filter and Kindness Prom to Protect Instagram Community“Starting today, Instagram will filter bullying comments intended to harass or upset people in the Instagram community. To be clear: we don’t tolerate bullying on Instagram. Our Community Guidelines have always prohibited bullying on our platform, and I’m proud to announce this next step in our ongoing commitment to keeping Instagram an inclusive, supportive place for all voices.”
After
Kicking Off National Bullying Prevention Month With New Anti-Bullying Features“In the last few days, we started testing a new feature that automatically hides comments similar to others that have been reported. We know from research that, while people don’t want to be exposed to negative comments, they want more transparency into the types of comments that are hidden.”
SearchSep 2020
Account search expanded to let people find accounts across Instagram and Messenger.
Before
Introducing Instagram’s All-New Search and Explore“Today we’re excited to announce two major updates to Instagram: the all-new Explore page, with trending Tags and Places, and more powerful search that makes it easier to find the people, places, and tags you’re looking for.”
After
Privacy Matters: Cross-App Communication for Instagram and Messenger“With this update, you can now search for accounts across Instagram and Messenger. Just as before, search results will show an account’s username or name and basic profile information for all accounts, both public and private.”
Hate speechSep 2020
Instagram expanded its hate-speech rules to explicitly cover implicit hate speech, including blackface and stereotypes about Jewish people.
Before
Instagram Community Guidelines FAQs“- Intellectual Property – Making sure you have the rights to post the content you share. - Appropriate Imagery – We don’t allow nudity on Instagram, with some exceptions, like photos of post-mastectomy scarring and women actively breastfeeding.”
After
An Update on Our Equity Work“We’ve developed and updated a number of our company policies to support communities worldwide. We updated our policies to more specifically account for certain kinds of implicit hate speech, such as content depicting blackface, or stereotypes about Jewish people.”
Recommendation eligibilityAug 2020
Instagram published the Recommendation Guidelines in its Help Center, fulfilling the earlier promise to make them public.
Before
We’re looking to support our people, engage with the community, and address fairness on our platform.“on that front. And we're also going to take a look at our recommendation guidelines. What our recommendation guidelines are are the rules with which we decide what can and cannot show up in places like Explore or hashtag pages, places where you're seeing content from someone that you didn't decide to follow.”
After
Recommendation Guidelines“Across our apps, we make recommendations to help you discover new communities and content we think you’re likely to be interested in. We suggest Pages, Groups, Events and more based on content you’ve expressed interest in and actions you take on our apps.”
Instagram ShoppingAug 2020
Instagram Live Shopping moved from testing and a planned rollout to availability for all US businesses and creators using checkout.
Before
Introducing Facebook Shops: Helping Small Businesses Sell Online“People have been using live video on our apps to showcase products for years, from shoe stores announcing new sneakers to beauty influencers trying on different lipsticks. Now, we’re making it easier to shop for products in real time.”
After
Making It Easier to Shop and Sell on Our Apps“Messaging through Shops combines the in-store experience of being able to ask a salesperson questions with the convenience of online shopping. Messaging allows businesses to provide personalized assistance so people can make more informed decisions about their purchase.”
Instagram ShoppingAug 2020
The announced Live Shopping feature became available to all US businesses and creators using checkout.
Before
Doing More to Support Creators on Instagram“earn money from the content they work so hard to produce. We’ll begin testing IGTV ads with a small group of creators and advertisers in the US, and will expand slowly over time as we improve the experience.”
After
Making It Easier to Shop and Sell on Our Apps“Messaging through Shops combines the in-store experience of being able to ask a salesperson questions with the convenience of online shopping. Messaging allows businesses to provide personalized assistance so people can make more informed decisions about their purchase.”
HashtagsAug 2020
Hashtag-page discovery expanded to include eligible public Reels using the hashtag.
Before
Introducing Location and Hashtag Story Exploration“Today we’re excited to announce two new ways to discover the world around you on Explore: location stories and hashtag stories. Now you can see what’s happening around you and find stories related to your interests.”
After
Introducing Instagram Reels“You can share reels with your followers or get discovered by the larger Instagram community in Explore. - If you have a Public Account: You can share your reel to a dedicated space in Explore, where it has the chance to be seen by the wider Instagram community.”
ExploreJul 2020
The promised new shopping experience in Explore launched as Instagram Shop, with personalized product recommendations and collections.
Before
Today we’re introducing Facebook Shops, an easy way for businesses to set up an online store on Facebook and Instagram.“Today we’re introducing Facebook Shops, an easy way for businesses to set up an online store on Facebook and Instagram. We hope this helps businesses grow – and helps you shop the things you love. We’ll have more to share soon, including new ways to discover and buy products through Instagram Explore and a new shopping tab.”
After
Instagram Shop: Discover and Buy Products You Love, All In One Place“Today, we’re introducing Instagram Shop, a new destination in Explore that makes it easier to shop from brands and creators. Discover the latest trends and get personalized recommendations, all in one place, so you can browse and buy the products that you love.”
Comment controlsMay 2020
Instagram expanded comment deletion from individual comments to multiple comments at once.
Before
Keeping Instagram Comments Safe“themselves without criticism or harassment. It’s not only my personal wish to do this, I believe it’s also our responsibility as a company. So, today, we’re taking the next step to ensure Instagram remains a positive place to express yourself.”
After
In a continuation of our work to lead the industry in the fight against online bullying, we’re announcing three new tools today.“In a continuation of our work to lead the industry in the fight against online bullying, we’re announcing three new tools today. First, we’re testing Pinned Comments, a feature to help people set the tone for their accounts by pinning a select number of comments to the top of their comments thread.”
RestrictMay 2020
Instagram added the ability to restrict multiple accounts at once through comment management.
Before
Empowering Our Community to Stand up to Bullying“Starting today, you can protect your account from unwanted interactions with a new feature called Restrict, as part of our ongoing initiative to protect teens on Instagram from abuse. Bullying is a complex issue, and we know that young people face a disproportionate amount of online bullying but are reluctant to report or block peers who bully them.”
After
Continuing Our Work to Fight Online Bullying“First, we’re launching a new feature to help people manage multiple unwanted interactions at once. We know it can feel overwhelming to manage a rush of negative comments, so we’ve been testing the ability to delete comments in bulk, as well as block or restrict multiple accounts that post negative comments.”
MisinformationMar 2020
Instagram extended distribution penalties for fact-checked false content from removal from Explore and hashtag pages to downranking in Feed and Stories.
Before
Combatting Misinformation on Instagram“We want you to trust what you see on Instagram. Photo and video based misinformation is increasingly a challenge across our industry, and something our teams have been focused on addressing. In May of this year, we began working with third-party fact-checkers in the US to help identify, review and label false information.”
After
Keeping People Informed, Safe, and Supported on Instagram“In addition to promoting credible information throughout our app, we’re making several changes to reduce the spread of misinformation. We’ll remove COVID-19 accounts from account recommendations, and we are working to remove some COVID-19 related content from Explore, unless posted by a credible health organization.”
Content reportingFeb 2020
Instagram added Support Requests to track reports and let people request another review if they disagree with a reporting decision.
Before
Instagram Features that Support #SaferInternetDay“If you see something that shouldn’t be on Instagram, you can report it to us. Our team works 24/7 to quickly review and remove content that goes against our Community Guidelines. To report something, tap “…” on the top right corner of the post or profile, or swipe left on the comment.”
After
#SaferInternetDay“Today we’re introducing new ways to better update people when they report something to us. First we’re announcing Support Requests, a new feature that shows the status of your submitted reports, as well as your report history.”
2019
Close FriendsOct 2019
Close Friends expanded beyond sharing Stories to sharing and communicating through the dedicated Threads app.
Before
Curate Instagram Stories for Close Friends Only“Starting today, you can make a close friends list on Stories and share with just the people you’ve added. Instagram Stories has become the place to express yourself and share everyday moments, but our community has grown and sometimes what you want to share isn’t for everyone.”
After
Privacy Matters: Threads“By Karina Newton, Head of Policy, Instagram We know people want to stay connected with their close friends online. That’s why Facebook is launching Threads, a new camera-first messaging app from Instagram for keeping up with your close friends in a dedicated space.”
RestrictOct 2019
Restrict moved from an announced upcoming test to an available feature.
Before
Our Commitment to Lead the Fight Against Online Bullying“While identifying and removing bullying on Instagram is important, we also need to empower our community to stand up to this kind of behavior. We’ve heard from young people in our community that they’re reluctant to block, unfollow, or report their bully because it could escalate the situation, especially if they interact with their bully in real life.”
After
Empowering Our Community to Stand up to Bullying“Starting today, you can protect your account from unwanted interactions with a new feature called Restrict, as part of our ongoing initiative to protect teens on Instagram from abuse. Bullying is a complex issue, and we know that young people face a disproportionate amount of online bullying but are reluctant to report or block peers who bully them.”