Instagram has announced that they will be kicking off a clean up drive on the app soon to remove bots and fake accounts from its platform.
“Starting today, we will begin removing inauthentic likes, follows and comments from accounts that use third-party apps to boost their popularity. We’ve built machine learning tools to help identify accounts that use these services and remove the inauthentic activity,” Instagram noted on a blog post.
Users who has the access to get help from third party app or website to increase their followers, likes, and comments will be issued a warning, and will be notified that those apps access has been revoked, and that they’ll need to change their passwords as well. In addition to that, Instagram will also remove ads that promotes services and purchases for fake likes, comments, and followers.
“Ads are also subject to our Community Standards, which prohibit spammy activity like collecting likes, followers, etc. So you are correct that ads promoting these services violate our policies. Please feel free to report them if you see them,” in a statement made by Instagram to TechCrunch.
The move comes to help discourage users from giving another company their login information as Instagram transitions into a platform for brands and influencers to advertise. Although Instagram has removed fake accounts in a great purge once before, it hasn’t taken action against fake likes before, and it promises more measures against fraudulent activity in the coming weeks.