Not only has Instagram started killing off fake followers on its platform, the social media team is also warning of pulling the plug on the accounts that keep using apps to get these fake followers.
These fake accounts are used to leave spammy comments or followership and then unfollow others in hopes of growing their audience. So, Instagram is looking for inauthentic follows, likes, and comments that the team feels violate the policies laid down for users on the platform.
The users affected are being sent a warning to change their password to cut ties with these appas, and saying people who continue using the apps may see their accounts impacted somehow.
The repercussion could be a limit to some privileges or certain features. Instagram is also discouraging users from giving their login information to third parties so that their accounts will not be hacked or used for unusual activities such as sending spam.
In this way, those who see their Instagram followers drop should know that it is not because that profile offended but because the followers were fake.
This renewed interest in enforcing this type of policy comes amidst the incessant threat of foreign misinformation campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. These are designed to polarize communities and influence elections in the USA and elsewhere. Facebook clearly made it clear that inauthentic accounts are often the cause of these campaigns and it removed 754 million fake accounts in the past months. Facebook believes that stopping them can prevent them from misusing clients’ accounts.
Instagram claims that it is getting better at taking down fake accounts for years and now the company has built machine learning tools to assist in identifying accounts that indulge in this type of negative behavior. The problem is solely about inauthentic accounts and fake followership mainly.
Some of the apps that promote growing followership on this platform have been shut down. These include Instagress and Social Growth. There are others that charge money to do that and these claim that they do not violate Instagram’s policies.
Users are urged to stop providing their login details to these kind of companies because they virtually take over individual accounts.
