Instagram is cracking down on fake followers

In the name of cleaning out the trash, Instagram is keen to start fighting the recent scourge of fake accounts, likes and comments that have plagued the social media platform.

Announced this week, the platform are now making these #FakeNews accounts a violation of the Community Guidelines and Terms of Use. The bung accounts will now be identified using moderation tools, allowing Instagram to straight-up remove them from accounts who use third party apps or services to bump up their numbers.

It’s about time that the Facebook owned platform jumped on the growing trend. Honestly, nothing makes my eyes roll further back into my head than when I stumble upon an overly-fake account trying to make a few quick bucks without putting in the hard yards. Take your #like4like and get the hell off my feed.

Under these revised guidelines, the company will notify the account that the engagements have been removed, as well as prompting them to change their password to avoid future jacking.

The company is also looking at more ways to combat the fake activity.