➤ How to use filters on Instagram to block offensive direct messages 🎮

Instagram does not decline his attempt to make his own safer social platform for all its users, far from the hatred that usually floods social networks. It's not an easy task, but Instagram wants to achieve it by introducing tools like new filters that automatically block direct message requests with offensive content, as he explains on his blog.

The managers of the platform understand that in the private message bar you only receive messages from your friends and that therefore you do not suffer from the arrival of offensive messages there. For this reason, these new filters act in the previous step, in message requests, so that you never have to see unwanted contentbe they racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise. Let's see how you can easily activate these filters.

Put filters on your Instagram direct messages so that those with offensive content don't reach you.

How to use filters on Instagram to block offensive direct messages

In addition to being able to manually block a user from receiving their messages, now on Instagram it is possible to activate filters that act on the request bar of direct messages with any message that contains offensive phrases, words or emojis. This tool works similar to the comment filters already on Instagram, which allow you to choose which terms you don't want to see in the comments under your posts.

By activating this feature, Instagram will apply a predefined list of words that could be offensive, a list created with the help of organizations of great importance in the fight against discrimination and harassment. Also, you will be able to create your own list of custom offensive terms, phrases and emojis in so that the filters work with them too.

In this way, when you receive a request for a private message that contains the contents of the predefined and customized lists, the Instagram filters will be launched to send it directly to a hidden folder. As the social network explains in the release, you will continue to have the ability to see these unwanted messages, albeit the filtered content will appear covered.

If you tap on the blocked terms, you will be able to see them, but already knowing that you are exposing yourself to content that you yourself have marked as offensive. Finally, you can choose whether to accept the user's request, delete it or report it so that Instagram can analyze it.

By the way, Instagram ensures that, despite the functioning of the filters, it never has access to your requests for private messages, since the whole process takes place on the device. If you want to use these useful filters for enjoy a friendlier and safer platform, follow these steps:

Open Instagram and click on your profile photo in the lower right corner.
Within your profile, tap the button with three horizontal lines in the upper right corner.
click on "Settings" at the bottom of the side menu that appears.
Click on “Privacy”.
Now you will need to enter a section called "Hidden words" and activate the boxes "Hide message requests" both in the section "Hide offensive content" and in "Manage custom word list".

You can add your own words to Instagram direct message filters.

To see all the filtered requests, you will need to go to the "Hidden Requests" folder in the Direct Message Requests section. Click on a user to enter the conversation e press and hold the message to view its content. Then, click "Report", "Accept" or "Delete" to decide what to do with the blocked message.

Instagram has already finalized the development of this feature and started the its launch in several countries, which will last for a few weeks. Hopefully, these unwanted direct message filters will be available to other users in the coming months.