On November 20, 2018, Instagram said it was preparing to remove fake likes, follows and comments from accounts that use third-party services to inflate popularity. The move mirrors earlier action taken on Twitter and is aimed at users who rely on outside apps to boost their numbers.
The company said it has developed machine learning-powered moderation tools to detect accounts using these services and automatically strip out the artificial engagement. In practice, that means likes, follows and comments tied to the boosting tools can be removed without the user having to file a complaint.
Accounts flagged for using third-party apps to game the system will be notified inside Instagram that their fake likes have been removed. The platform also said those users will be prompted to change their passwords if the apps may have put account security at risk.
The crackdown is part of Instagram’s effort to make engagement more genuine and reduce the influence of fake popularity services on the platform.
