Adam Mosseri, CEO, Instagram, said on Monday that it is reviewing Instagram’s policy guidelines and monitor the content that deals with harassment of people of colour as a step to support the black community. Mosseri did not provide any specifics on how he is going to incorporate the change but he said that the Facebook-owned social media app has heard complaints regarding racial abuse from its black users, The Verge reported.

“The irony that we’re a platform that stands for elevating Black voices, but at the same time Black people are often harassed, afraid of being ‘shadowbanned’, and disagree with many content takedowns, is not lost on me,” Mosseri said in a statement.

Mosseri said Instagram is “hearing concern” about whether it suppresses black voices and if it treats everyone equally in its products and policies. “This is a moment when people around the world are rightfully demanding actions over words, and we owe the same to our community.”

He said that the company will focus on four areas: harassment, verification, distribution, and algorithmic bias. To address harassment, Mosseri said the company will look at specific safety issues its black users’ experience on and off Instagram, and how it can protect people from those issues.

It’s also going to examine whether the criteria it uses to verify Instagram users is inclusive since it received questions about whether that process favours certain groups.

The CEO mentioned that the site will ensure that the content gets filtered in case if there is any bias involved. Instagram will be more transparent about how it distributes people’s posts. It’s also going to “take a harder look” at whether algorithmic bias is having an effect on its decision-making, Verge report added.

Mosseri said Instagram will also examine how well it is serving other underrepresented groups. “Our goal is that Instagram is a place where everyone feels safe, supported, and free to express themselves, and I’m hoping this work will get us closer to that goal,” he said.

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