Instagram is introducing a new system that censors images deemed to be sensitive in nature. This creates an overlay that blocks out the picture, preventing people from seeing it while scrolling.
These censored posts are not exactly completely blocked from view. Users can still tap on the images to view them. The idea is that there are some images that do not break Instagram’s terms of use, but get flagged as inappropriate anyway. In this case, a team will review the image and decide if it gets censored instead of deleted.
The censorship is on by default; and there’s no way to turn it off. Which is rather odd considering that there is likely to be a large number of Instagram users who would rather not be faced with an extra tap to view images.
On the other hand, Instagram has finally implemented two-stage authentication. This comes after the feature was spotted in a beta test way back in February 2016. Unlike the censorship tool, this extra security layer is turned off by default. Users will have to activate it in their settings manually.
It feels a little backward to have a sort of parental control automatically turned on while leaving additional security as an opt-in choice. One is slightly more important than the other, and it’s not in the order that Instagram thinks it is. That said, at least two-stage authentication is now available for everyone who wants a little extra security on their accounts.
[Source: Instagram]
