Instagram said on 20 November 2018 that it would begin removing fake likes, comments and follows created through third-party services, a move aimed at curbing inflated engagement on the platform.
The Facebook-owned app said any inauthentic activity linked to outside tools used to boost follower counts or interaction would be deleted for breaching its terms and conditions. Accounts caught up in the purge would also be told that the fake activity had been removed.
The company said the cleanup would rely on machine learning systems designed to identify accounts using third-party services to manufacture follows, likes and discussions. Where there were signs that an account may have been compromised, users would be prompted to change their passwords.
The crackdown came amid wider pressure on social networks in 2018 to deal with bots and artificial engagement. Twitter had already deactivated dormant accounts twice that year, leaving some users with follower losses running into the thousands.
Instagram had removed fake accounts before, but the company had not previously taken on fake comments and likes at this scale. The issue was not limited to Instagram either, with YouTube also facing accusations that some creators, including musicians, had bought fake views to improve visibility and trend status.
The source article also noted that the problem of buying followers and friends had been visible on social platforms since 2017, with Twitter, YouTube and Instagram all mentioned as places where people tried to inflate their influence.
Instagram said the enforcement would take effect in the coming days.
