Instagram has since been accused of extending the practice to censor posts under vague and inconsistent circumstances, particularly in regards to sexually suggestive material. In a rolletto casino review now-deleted Facebook post, Instagram wrote that "When developing content, we recommend focusing on your business objective or goal rather than hashtags". It was reported that these changes were primarily intended to discourage third-party clients replicating the entire Instagram experience (due to increasing monetization of the service), and security reasons (such as preventing abuse by automated click farms, and the hijacking of accounts). The company launched carousel image ads in October 2015, and video carousel ads in March 2016. In March 2015, Instagram announced it would implement "carousel ads", allowing advertisers to display multiple images with options for linking to additional content. Instagram verifies accounts based on its own discretion, and not all accounts meeting the criteria may be verified.
The changes included a feed more focused on Instagram's content algorithms, full-screen photo and video posts, and changing the format of all of its videos to Reels. In July 2016, it announced that users would be able to turn off comments for their posts, as well as control the language used in comments by inputting words they consider offensive, which will ban applicable comments from showing up. Also in 2020, Instagram rolled out a feature titled "suggested posts", which adds posts from accounts Instagram thinks a user would like to such user's feed.

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• In 2021, Instagram announced that like counts would return to be publicly viewable by default.
• Users can apply for verification through Instagram’s settings, but the decision to grant verification ultimately rests with Instagram’s team.Meta (formerly Facebook) launched paid verification on Instagram in 2021.
• The Verge wrote that cybersecurity firm RepKnight had found contact information for multiple actors, musicians, and athletes, and singer Selena Gomez’s account was used by the hackers to post naked photos of her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber.
• In April 2020, Direct became accessible from the Instagram website, allowing users to send direct messages from a web version using WebSocket technology.
• Meta stated that the test would initially reach a limited number of users, with plans for a global rollout depending on feedback.

On December 20, Instagram announced that the advertising section of the policy would be reverted to its original October 2010 version. Hours after the hack, a searchable database was posted online, charging $10 per search. The company said in a statement that it had "fixed the bug swiftly" and was running an investigation. In June 2017, Instagram announced that it would automatically attempt to filter offensive, harassing, and "spammy" comments by default.
Paid verification allowed eligible Instagram users to request verification for their accounts via paying a fee, rather than relying solely on meeting the platform's traditional criteria for verification. It helps users easily identify legitimate accounts amidst the vast number of profiles on the platform. Importantly, this feature will only display Story Highlights—curated collections of Stories saved by users—rather than standard Stories that disappear after 24 hours. In January 2017, Instagram launched skippable ads, where five-second photo and 15-second video ads appear in-between different stories. In November, Instagram added live video functionality to Instagram Stories, allowing users to broadcast themselves live, with the video disappearing immediately after ending.
In September 2011, a new version of the app included new and live filters, instant tilt–shift, high-resolution photographs, optional borders, one-click rotation, and an updated icon. Users can set their account as "private", thereby requiring that they approve any new follower requests. Subsequent episodes in June and August 2024 featured Reneé Rapp, Rachel Sennott, Megan Thee Stallion and GloRilla.
The move garnered severe criticism from users, prompting Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom to write a blog post one day later, announcing that they would "remove" the offending language from the policy. In August 2017, reports surfaced that a bug in Instagram's developer tools had allowed "one or more individuals" to gain access to the contact information, specifically email addresses and phone numbers, of several high-profile verified accounts, including its most followed user, Selena Gomez. Correlations have been made between Instagram content and dissatisfaction with one's body, as a result of people comparing themselves to other users. One exception was in January 2020, when Instagram and its parent company, Facebook, Inc., removed posts "that voice support for slain Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani to comply with US sanctions". A few days after a fire incident that happened in the Koryo Hotel in North Korea on June 11, 2015, authorities blocked Instagram to prevent photos of the incident from being spread. In October 2013, Instagram deleted the account of Canadian photographer Petra Collins after she posted a photo of herself in which a very small area of pubic hair was visible above the top of her bikini bottom.

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These changes are ostensibly an attempt to hinder the spread of misinformation, while Instagram has also repeatedly stated that hashtags do not help posts get views. In April 2022, Instagram began testing the removal of the ability to see "recent" posts from various hashtags. In May 2021, Instagram began allowing users in some regions to add pronouns to their profile page.
In a recent survey, half of the applicants admitted to photo editing behavior which has been linked with concerns over body image. The tool used color analysis, metadata components, and face detection of users' feeds. If some of the accounts violate Instagram's community guidelines, it will take action, which could include banning them. In 2015, Instagram was named No. 1 by Mashable on its list of "The 100 best iPhone apps of all time", noting Instagram as "one of the most influential social networks in the world." Instagram was listed among Time's "50 Best Android Applications for 2013" list. In the U.S., there is relatively little government regulation of social media content, with most content removal taking place on a voluntary basis by the companies.
Instagram has developed and released three stand-alone apps with specialized functionality. In April 2019, Instagram added the option to "Checkout on Instagram", which allows merchants to sell products directly through the Instagram app. In February 2016, Instagram announced that it had 200,000 advertisers on the platform. In June 2014, Instagram announced the rollout of ads in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, with ads starting to roll out that autumn. She said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in September 2013 that the company should be ready to begin selling advertising by September 2014 as a way to generate business from a popular entity that had not yet created profit for its parent company.

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While Instagram may appear to be one of the most widely used sites for photo sharing, only 7% of daily photo uploads, among the top four photo-sharing platforms, come from Instagram. While Instagram has a neutral gender-bias format, 68% of Instagram users are female and 32% are male. As of 2014update, Instagram's users are divided equally, with 50% iPhone owners and 50% Android owners. This increased to 150 million in January 2017, 200 million in April, surpassing Snapchat's user growth, and 250 million active users in June 2017. In October 2016, Instagram Stories reached 100 million active users, two months after launch.

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Users can also "archive" their posts in a private storage area, out of visibility for the public and other users. Users can connect their Instagram account to other social networking sites, enabling them to share uploaded photos to those sites. On August 2, 2024, Turkey blocked Instagram after the platform deleted posts from users offering condolences for the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. In February 2023, Instagram introduced a new feature allowing users to browse and post GIFs in their comments. After scrolling through posts from the past 48 hours, Instagram displays posts related to their interests from accounts they do not follow. Similar to Snapchat, the app allowed users to communicate through messaging and video chats.

• The app includes some AI features and the ability to post directly to Instagram or Facebook.
• The move was seen as a way to prevent users from deleting photos that don’t garner a desired number of “likes” or are deemed boring, but also as a way to limit the “emergent behavior” of deleting photos, which deprives the service of content.
• After a period of testing, a duration of up to three minutes was announced in January 2025.
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• Since the app’s launch it had used the Foursquare API technology to provide named location tagging.
• The application was shut down and removed from app stores in March 2022, citing low usage and a shift to short-form video content.

Meta representatives replied that they were disappointed with the lawsuit and were hoping instead to continue working with other companies from the industry to create new and better standards for applications teens use. The lawsuit claimed that Meta and its Instagram unit repeatedly misled the public about the dangers of its platforms and knowingly induced young children and teenagers into addictive and compulsive social media use. In October, 2023, 42 U.S. states filed a lawsuit against Instagram and parent company Meta, accusing them of contributing to a youth mental health crisis due to the addictive nature of the platforms. In 2021, Instagram announced that like counts would return to be publicly viewable by default.

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On March 14, the ban took effect, with almost 80 million users losing access to Instagram. In July 2021, Instagram temporarily censored videos with the phrase "death to Khamenei". Sometimes the phrase "Chinese Instagram" is used to refer to Xiaohongshu, a competitor social media app which is not to be confused with Instagram. Digital rights groups such as 7amleh and Access Now argue that the removal of Palestinian content reflects broader issues of digital discrimination and have called for greater transparency from social media platforms. Instagram denied intentional censorship and attributed the deletion of Palestinian posts to glitches. On January 2020, after the Assassination of Qasem Soleimani by the United States, Instagram removed posts expressing support for General Soleimani.

According to the IFJ, Instagram is popular among Iranians because it is seen as an outlet for freedom and a "window to the world".Still, Iran has sentenced citizens to prison for posts made on their Instagram accounts. However, new incidents of illegal drug trade have occurred in the aftermath of the 2013 revelation, with Facebook, Inc., Instagram's parent company, asking users who come across such content to report the material, at which time a "dedicated team" reviews the information. People can't buy things on Instagram, we are simply a place where people share photos and videos. We encourage people who come across illegal or inappropriate content to report it to us using the built-in reporting tools next to every photo, video or comment, so we can take action.
Ongoing research continues to explore how media content on the platform affects user engagement. Following behind, college graduates consist of 18% and users with a high school diploma or less make up 15%. Internet users who make less than $30,000 per year use Instagram, while 14% of those making $30,000 to $50,000 and 12% of users who make more than $50,000 per year do so. Instagram has been proven to attract the younger generation, with 90% of its 150 million users under the age of 35.