Instagram now bans users from thorough for certain hashtags that may be considered profane or clear. This discovery, by Nick Drewe of The Data Pack, comes after Instagram’s 2012 announcement on its Tumblr that it was banning keyword search for “Thinspiration” terms, that many eating muddle dead use, as well as placing a disclaimer on images that relate to self-harm in any way. They also prohibit accounts that are meant to glorify self-harm.
The current batch of search hashtags that Instagram has barred mainly center around profanity. The total list that Drewe has discovered on his own using the Instagram API can be found on his website.
Possible Issues
Another blog post at Digital Trends cover Drewe’s discovery points out that there may be some sort of routine filter set, as searching for the term #thesexpistols (after the famous English band) isn’t allowed. Instagram also barred all hashtags that included the word bitch, even though the hashtag #uglyslutsaturday is still searchable as of publication.
These types of inconsistencies is what makes banning hashtags or putting certain restrictions on search a doubtful practice. While no one will disagree that banning top level searches for porn-related or damaging terms is part of Instagram’s terms of service, many may argue that what is considered profane is individual to each person.
While Instagram is a private service and users must consent to their terms when using the site, these inconsistencies that are taken out of context or not fairly useful to other derogatory terms can be trying to some users.
Search Implications
Instagram isn’t the only web giant to ban certain terms or services. As of 2010, Google had a list of banned terms for Google Instant, their auto-complete service, and they have also barred weapon-related listings from Google Shopping, according to a 2012 post on Search Engine Land.
While these services are ours to decide to use, these limits may eventually hurt businesses and organizations. For instance, what if cancer teaching and awareness organization F*ck Cancer had an Instagram campaign, but their target hashtag was unsearchable because of their name?
While there at present isn’t the choice to view search results for banned hashtags on Instagram, many other services allow users to have the option to see content after presentation a disclaimer for potentially offensive content, instead of banning it totally.
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