Erm, why the heck are there so many bots on Instagram at the moment?
There are lots of things I love about Instagram. Keeping in touch with my pals across the world, getting all the fashion and beauty tips from my fave influencers and re-watching my own Story more times than I care to admit (hey, we all do it!), to name a few. But one thing I absolutely do not love – detest, even – is how many bots there are on Instagram. And I know I'm not alone.
Although anyone who grew up in the nineties and noughties will be familiar with bots and malware (who else killed their family PC downloading tracks off Limewire?), it seems that as technology has advanced, so have the scammers – and lately, they've been working overtime.
From the many, many accounts – with usernames like @horny_girls_now691 – that like our Stories time and time again, to tagged giveaways promising a free SHEIN haul or a brand! new! iPhone! if you just click this totally-not-a-scam link, it feels like this is the bots' world and we're just living in it.
"These Instagram sex bots are really starting to freak me out. Why are there SO MANY OF THEM liking my stories wtf. There aren’t enough block buttons in the world," one person tweeted of the growing problem, as someone else wrote: "Is it just me or are there so many bots on Instagram lately like? IDK if my account's just been unlucky or what but I have been tagged/messaged/follow requested by so many scams/bots in the past week. GIRL leave me alone."
So, what's the deal? When I reached out to Meta (Instagram's parent company) about the issue, a spokesperson confirmed the tech company is aware of the issue. "We are currently investigating this issue and have already removed a large quantity of accounts for violating our scam policies," the spokesperson told me.
As for how Meta is cracking down on said bots, Cosmopolitan UK understands that the company is working closely with law enforcement to assist investigations, keep scammers off its platforms and support victims, as well as continually investing in new technology to improve safety and security.
But, will platforms like Instagram ever be bot free? Although Meta has been throwing billions at the problem, the reality is that bots will probably always exist in one form or another. After all, scammers will always find a way to do just that, adapting and refining their processes almost as quickly as the tech giants shut them down. There's also the issue of resource: with companies like Meta only having a finite amount of moderators to go around. In fact, despite there being more than 1.5 billion Instagram users worldwide, Meta only has about 15,000 moderators. Talk about fighting an uphill battle.
That's why it's so important that – as annoying and time consuming as this may be – we each play our part in tackling the issue, such as blocking and reporting bots so that platforms are aware of them. We can also (somewhat) beat the bots at their own game, by limiting who can tag us in content and hiding custom words and phrases (like 'SHEIN giveaway'), via Instagram settings. If all else fails, at least @naughty_girl_4u_ is upping the like count on our selfies. Silver linings, eh?
Follow Jade on Instagram and Twitter.
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