To understand what constitutes a reportable offense on Instagram, you need to understand what goes into reporting a user.
When you report someone on Instagram it goes to Instagram’s board which then decides whether to penalize the account you reported by temporarily blocking them or disabling their account.
If you can be considered a responsible social media user, you may have trouble bringing yourself to report a user you consider to be irresponsible.
True, regular reporters of potentially petty activity are irresponsible users in their own right.
Like all social media platforms, Instagram should be a place where people can express themselves and connect with some relative comfort.
Like in any social situation, they should respect each other and the etiquette of the context.
But there are those users who break that etiquette and may go beyond simply disrespecting others on the platform.
These people could betray the trusts and policies of the network, if not endanger those on it in one way or another.
Prolific Instagram users are bound to encounter some upsetting content or user activity. It is usually nothing they should worry too much about.
Of course, if someone on Instagram is displaying hostile, inappropriate, or even illegal activity, they needs to be reported.
But how do you know when a user has gone too far? More importantly, how do you know when you have gone too far?
What Happens When You Report Someone on Instagram?
With its easy accessibility and bright red font, Instagram’s “Report” button is known to strike anxiety into users. It is clearly a solemn action, but luckily not as simple as it appears to be.
If you are worried about accidentally reporting a user, selecting that option triggers a series of prompts with which you can specify the reason for the report. Even if you do complete a report, it is a long process from there.
A user report on social media is formally a request for a review of something you believe to be an abuse of the platform’s terms and policies.
Instagram’s Oversight Board will eventually audit the reported user’s profile and activity to determine if there has been abuse, then determine punitive action proportionate to the abuse.
If you have mistakenly reported a user, or if the audit finds that there is no abuse of the policy, the report will be dismissed.
In most cases, your part in this process is done after you have made the report. You will not be notified of the inquest or its findings.
It is advised that you keep up with a reported user to look for further abuses. You can always do more to make sure Instagram is safer for users.
What Happens When You Get Reported on Instagram?
What happens on the other side of a user report? What if you have done something that a user feels deserves an inquest?
A user’s experience of being reported depends on the nature of the report. In some cases, you may not even know that you are under investigation.
If the content is determined to be an abuse of policies, it will be removed, and the user should be notified. Repeats of this and other inappropriate content may lead to more serious actions.
If an account has a history of reported abusive behavior, its user may be locked out of it without warning. If the charges are serious enough, accounts with a little-to-no history of inquest could be disabled.
You will not be notified if a report is dismissed as invalid. If the report is valid, you will be notified of the violation.
If you disagree with the Oversight Board’s decision, you have the right to contest it.
You can request another review of removed content by going to your settings through your profile page, then to “Accounts”, then to “Accounts Status”. From there, open the removed content and select “Request a review.”
You can also request a content review by going to “Help” under your settings, then “Support Requests”, then “Violations”. Open the update on your audit, then “Request Review” under the “More Options” menu.
In more serious cases, you can appeal to the Oversight Board. If you are eligible for an appeal, a message on the aforementioned “Violations” page will provide an Oversight Board Reference Number and instructions on how to send your request.
Before you contest the review board’s findings, though, you should know what constitutes a violation.
Reasons You Should Report Someone on Instagram
Instagram users and posts are to be reported if they are in violation of the platform’s Community Guidelines and Terms of Use.
Regulations under these guidelines are extensive. However, most rules and etiquette should be common sense and easy to follow.
According to the Community Guidelines, Instagram posts should not contain content that may be considered explicit or otherwise highly inappropriate.
Inappropriate content can also include references to self-harm or eating disorders.
The unauthorized use of the intellectual property is also prohibited, and may even be considered a legal violation.
Comments may be reported if they constitute extreme harassment (bullying) of other users or general hate speech. Spam comments that overfill a comment section can even be reported as a deliberate nuisance.
In light of growing concerns about misinformation on social media in 2022, Instagram has also grown stricter with false information in posts and comments.
Although users are free to express their beliefs, reported material that is proven false and potentially dangerous may be taken down.
These are the most common and apparent forms of reportable content on Instagram. Repeated offenses can result in penalties against the user account as a whole.
Regulations directly related to Instagram accounts fall under the Terms of Use. Users must be at least 13 years old. They cannot be convicted.
Users who have been banned for these or other violations of Instagram’s policies may not create another account on the platform. This person has the right to appeal for the ban to be overturned.
If you have credible reason to believe that an account violates these regulations, you should report it.
More importantly, you should report accounts that are in violation of the law.
Fake Instagram accounts, or “finstas”, are not inherently illegal, but are typically created for the purposes of scamming or gathering information on other users.
Fraudulent finstas can also impersonate someone who is not the user. They are especially criminal if they post content that could defame the individual impersonated.
Users who have accessed another person’s account without authorization, especially if by hacking, may be in violation of the law.
Report accounts that practice this or has fallen victim to a cyberattack, including your own account.
There have been reported cases of accounts for posting highly criminal content depicting graphic situations.
Instagram can be subpoenaed to turn over relevant content as evidence in criminal investigations.
If I Report Someone on Instagram, Is It Anonymous?
As you can see, there are a wide array of reportable offenses that can be found on Instagram.
Whether the user has committed a petty policy violation or a serious legal one, there could be danger involved in the identification of a reporter.
With that, Instagram aims to uphold the strictest anonymity of users who report another user.
After a report has been made, representatives of the platform take over the case and proceed with audits or actions.
It is not publicly known if the identity of the user who made the initial report is displayed to the Oversight Board.
However, Instagram cannot directly protect a user who reports another user.
The reported user may be able to deduce the identity of the reporter. Indeed, there is nothing to prevent a user from confessing to making a report.
If you are experiencing bullying in response to reporting a user, you can also report this activity or block the user. Contact Instagram or other qualified authorities if you are concerned about a more serious response.
Does Instagram Show Who Reports You?
Just as you will not be identified to users you report, those who report you will remain anonymous.
Instagram’s notification of users that they are being investigated is already somewhat limited. You will certainly not be notified of the report’s origin, let alone its originator.
Of course, there is an indirect exception to this anonymity. It may also expose you if you have made a report.
A copyright report on Instagram is made through a different process from traditional abuse reports.
A specific form has to be filled out to notify Instagram of potential copyright infringement.
The review board’s inquest into this matter cannot proceed until the copyright holder makes a formal complaint via this form.
When a user is reported for copyright infringement, that person is given a notification message that provides the name and contact information of the copyright holder.
As a civil matter, copyright infringement cases are to be dealt with in a transparent capacity. This does not necessarily violate the anonymity of user reports according to Instagram’s policies.
For further protection, a copyright report can be made by a third party, such as a representative of the holder or a concerned user. Instagram should then contact the copyright holder for a potential formal complaint.
If you suspect copyright violation or even such other serious offenses as account hacking, you can make a report by phone at 1-650-543-4800.
Keep in mind that fake copyright infringement notifications are one of the most common phishing scams on Instagram.
A phishing scam falsely accuses someone of policy abuse or cyberattack, then requests verification of the user’s account. The fake verification form is then used to collect the user’s login information.
If a copyright infringement notification claiming to be from Instagram does not identify the copyright holder, it is a phishing scam.
What Does Reporting Someone on Instagram Do?
As said earlier, a report on Instagram simply flags a user or post for investigation by the platform’s Oversight Board.
If the report is found to be valid, then Instagram will penalize the flagged account according to the violation.
Penalties include the removal of the offending post or comment, temporary or indefinite disabling of the account, or a ban of the user.
Accounts that have received a relatively substantial number of fully processed and valid reports will almost certainly be disabled or shut down.
In accordance with the United States’ Stored Communications Act, criminal material on Instagram can be turned over to law enforcement.
Reporting a user can mean minor or extreme consequences for that person.
With anonymity and no place in the audit or penalty processes, reporters should face no consequences from Instagram for the nature or frequency of their reports.
Making a report should not be as intimidating of a process as the red font on “Report” suggests. It should still be considered a solemn process.
How to Report Someone on Instagram
Now that you understand what a user report entails, you can see its important role in the practices of a responsible Instagram user.
If you have come across a user or post that you feel abuses Instagram’s Terms of Use and/or Community Guidelines, here is how to make a report based on the type of violation.
How to Report an Account
- Select the three dots next to the username on the user’s profile page, or on the right of the user’s message in a chat.
- Select “Report”.
- Select the preset option for the form of abuse that you feel most closely describes the violation.
How to Report Comments
Open options for the offending comment according to your version of Instagram.
- On the desktop select the three horizontal dots next to “Reply”.
- On your iPhone swipe left over the comment, then select the exclamation point icon.
- On Android tap the comment, then select the exclamation point icon.
- Select “Report” (Desktop) or “Report this comment” (Mobile).
- Select the most relevant form of abuse.
How to Report a Post
- Open the post, and select the three dots in the top right corner of the screen.
- Select “Report” (Most media posts) or “Report Inappropriate” (Instagram Story).
- Select the most relevant form of abuse.
How to Know if Someone Reports You
User reports are handled by Instagram with discretion in general. In addition to the relative anonymity and security enjoyed by users who make the report, there are not many cases where the reported user will be directly notified.
Getting slapped with a copyright infringement notification or locked out of your account is a dead giveaway that you are being investigated for serious abuse.
But what if your account is locked or even shut down due to the accumulation of more minor abuses?
When an administrator on Instagram removes a post, the user may receive the pop-up message “We removed your post because it doesn’t follow our Community Guidelines.”
Admin removal of content also appears in the “Activity On Your Posts” feed. Select the heart icon in the top right corner of any page on Instagram to view such post activity as abuse-based removal.
Notifications are not always sent when content is removed. A post or even just a photo may disappear from your feed without warning or explanation.
Before reporting a potential bug as responsible for a random post-take-down, you should check to see if you have been reported.
- On the mobile app version of Instagram, go to your profile page.
- Select the Menu in the upper-righthand corner and then select Settings
- Go to Help.
- Go to Support Requests, then Reports.
This page will show you which reports, if any, have been made about you or your content. From here, you can also set up an appeal for a second review that could result in the restoration of the post or other user privileges.
How to Avoid Getting Reported on Instagram
It should not be difficult for the responsible Instagram user’s to avoid reportable abuses of the platform’s policies.
Brush up on Instagram’s Community Guidelines and user report tutorial to better understand what constitutes abuse.
Avoid posting imagery that contains graphic content. Do not post unauthorized content that is the intellectual property of another person.
This means presenting copyrighted material with the false impression that you created, own, or are authorized to distribute it.
You should be about to get away with casually showing products containing copyrighted content, such as clothing, prints, etc.
Prominently featuring or misrepresenting ownership of intellectual property may be perceived as abuse.
Penalties for copyright abuse are strictly dictated by the request of the property holder and the copyright laws of the country where the property is registered.
Avoid posting spam, which is defined as obnoxious and repetitive content that may be perceived as the creation of bots.
If you use too many repetitive hashtags or flood someone’s feed and comment section in a brief timeline, the material may be reported and taken down.
Just try to avoid posting content that may be considered abusively annoying or distressing.
Annoying material does not necessarily mean relatively overlong text or misleading material.
If a post or comment maliciously trolls or defames someone, makes distressing references, or contains dangerous misinformation, it can be reported and taken down.
Barring certain legally offensive abuses, content is only eligible for removal from Instagram if it is reported by a user (Profile visitors who do not have an account cannot make a report online). Even then, the report may be ruled invalid and dismissed.
Nonetheless, don’t put yourself in a position where your account can be penalized if reported. Be careful what you post.
How Long Does It Take for Instagram to See Your Report?
It usually only takes up to 24 hours for Instagram’s Oversight Board to respond to a report and review a potentially abusive post.
However, account reports may take anywhere between a few hours and 30 days to be resolved.
This is mostly because of the invasive process involved in verifying the identity of a user and the legitimacy of the account.
With this inconsistent and usually brief window of review, a dubious decision by the review board may not be out of the ordinary.
You may want to request a second review or file an appeal to the Oversight Board as quickly as possible if you do not agree with the penalty.
Appeals are also typically answered within 24 hours. Depending on the nature of the situation, the Oversight Board maintains the right to dismiss eligible appeals without review.
Conclusion
Instagram, like any social media platform, is meant to be a forum where people are comfortable with expressing themselves and opening respectful communication without fear of violation.
User reports are not about dismissing nuisances, but about ensuring the protection of other users.
You are no more likely to be punished for making a relatively petty user report than the reported user is to be punished for following community guidelines. These reports are meant to be totally anonymous.
However, you should be prepared to alert Instagram to abuses of policy that infringe on someone else’s intellectual property, likeness, or general wellbeing; the appropriateness of content and information on the platform; and even the law.
If you have yourself been reported, you have the right to state your case if you disagree with the Oversight Board’s actions.
You also have the responsibility to make sure that your abuses are not repeated, lest your account receives much more severe penalties than the indefinite removal of potentially abusive content.
Help fight bots, finstas, hackers, and other potentially criminal entities that use Instagram for malicious purposes.
You should yourself be careful with material that could constitute copyright infringement or misrepresent the character and intellectual properties of other people.
Instagram is always in charge of the hard part when it comes to holding abusive content and users accountable.
Still, it is relentless and often bureaucratic work on one of the most popular social media platforms in the world.
Do your part to make sure that the Instagram community is safe and secure by reporting violations of Community Guidelines and Terms of Use. As the old saying goes: if you see something, say something.
