2019 has been a year of cleansing for Instagram; the company is now prohibiting content that promotes vaping, tobacco products and weapons.
Instagram has been hard at work for the past few months — the company decided to remove AR filters related to cosmetic procedures back in October and limited the promotion of weight loss products and cosmetic surgeries back in September. In addition to that, they are monitoring the usage of sexually suggestive emojis and introduced a feature that allows users to restrict offensive comments on their posts.
The updated policy will be enforced within the coming weeks, and goods like alcohol or diet supplements will also be affected. While the two products mentioned will not be prohibited, there will be special restrictions — we’re assuming younger users will be unable to view such posts.
Apart from that, Instagram is also opening up Facebook’s Brand Collabs Manager to some Instagram creators. These creators will be able to enjoy the marketplace tool that allows them to share their insights and engagement with brands. This is a smart move since Instagram recently started hiding like counts, which could’ve affected creators negatively since brands can no longer assess them through like counts.
For more information, check out Instagram’s announcement on their page.