Tech Update Instagram – further improvements to fend off bots and fake accounts By Elinsys, 17th Aug 2020

Instagram has made further improvements to fend off the bots and fake accounts. Instagram will now require certain account holders to confirm their identity. Well, if the account holder cannot confirm their identity, their posts will receive reduced distribution.  Instagram further announced that failure to comply with an ID check could also result in certain accounts to be permanently disabled. This ID check is not for all the users on Instagram. It is especially for those accounts who have exhibited a pattern of inauthentic behaviour.

With the aim of displaying authentic content that comes from real people – Instagram will send a prompt to users to confirm their identity. This will also bring to light the fake accounts that are created to mislead the followers. They can be held accountable. This in turn keeps the entire community safe.

How does instagram determine whether the account in question is authentic?

Instagram uses a range of signals to decide whether a particular account needs to be questioned or not. Some of these include – followers being in different country then the location of the account, or account showing signs of an automated activity, etc. The name of the account however, need not match the name of the account holder, because many times account holders have pages for the brands that they manage. For personal accounts, the rules are different.

Once the verification is done, the account will function as normal – unless there is a reason to investigate further. The IDs are stored securely and Instagram says that they will be deleted within 30 days of being reviewed. Some of the accepted IDs include: Birth certificate, Driver’s license, Passport, Marriage certificate, Official name change paperwork, Personal or vehicle insurance card, Non-driver’s government ID (example: disability, SNAP or national ID card), Green card, residence permit or immigration papers, Tribal identification or status card, Voter ID card, Family certificate, Visa, National age card, Immigration registration card, Tax identification card.The criteria is that it should contain full name and photo and proof of age.

So, unless you have a lot of automated tools or have purchased a large amount of followers or have done anything of that sort – your Instagram account should be fine!

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