Is there someone’s account that you’d like to see removed from Instagram?
Or perhaps, someone says that they’ve reported you, and you’re wondering whether or not you should worry.
In either case, Instagram’s moderation policies are pretty well known these days. If you’re wondering how many reports will result in a ban, we’ll go over all the details of that in this article!
How Many Reports Are Necessary To Get An Instagram Account Banned?
The answer to this question is simple: just one.
Of course, there’s a bit more to it than that.
When a report happens, the post is sent off to one of Instagram’s moderators for review. They will then make a judgement on whether or not the post actually violates any of Instagram’s rules.
If a post did indeed violate Instagram’s rules, the appropriate action will be carried out depending on the severity of the offense.
If a post did not violate Instagram’s rules, no number of future reports will make Instagram change their mind (in fact, it’s possible that new reports are automatically filtered out.)
What can be an issue however is how quickly the reports are reviewed, and what action Instagram decides to take. In addition to deleting or banning accounts outright, Instagram may also impose temporary bans, shadow bans, or bans on specific features (like leaving comments, or following new people.)
Therefore, if you want to get someone’s Instagram account banned, it’s very important that you choose the right post (and reason) to report.
Let’s look over some of the factors that Instagram uses for punishment now.
Factors That Affect How Quickly An Account Is Banned / Deleted
As mentioned earlier, not all reports are treated equally.
While some can result in a complete ban on Instagram very quickly, others will be automatically ignored. So, by having an understanding on how Instagram prioritizes reports, you’ll have a lot more insight as to what you can expect.
Here are some of the most important factors that are likely to be used:
1. Severity Of The Offense
This is the big one.
As you might expect, Instagram considers some rules to be more important than others. So, there are certain types of content they’re incentivized to get rid of more quickly.
For example, somebody encouraging a large number of users to commit real-world crimes will be considered much more serious than reporting a random person for saying something mean in a DM to you.
This is just an example, but it gives you an idea.
Therefore, if you want to get someone banned, you should first report the post that has the most serious offense, and is likely to lead to greater punishment by Instagram.
You can review Instagram’s community guidelines by clicking here
2. Reputation Of The Reporter
Your own reputation likely matters as well, when you go to report an account.
This is because Instagram does not want to waste their time dealing with reports that are likely to be fraudulent. With over 1.3 billion Instagram users, moderating content is a huge expense for the company.
So, if you have a history of making false reports against people, it’s possible your reports may be deprioritized, meaning that they’ll take longer to get to – if Instagram doesn’t ignore them entirely.
Therefore, you want to be careful to avoid hitting the report button accidentally, and only report people when they’ve actually done something that violates Instagram’s rules.
Otherwise, it’s possible that your reports won’t be taken as seriously, even if somebody truly does break a rule in the future.
3. Past Rules Broken By The Account
Unlike our schools, Instagram actually does keep a ‘permanent record.’
If the user you’re reporting has been punished for other offenses in the past – even if these reports didn’t result in any sort of ban, it’s possible that they’ll be more heavily scrutinized for future reports.
Breaking a rule once is bad enough. If somebody has a history of rule-breaking behavior, Instagram may wish to stop them before they continue any further.
This means reports made to those accounts may be reviewed more quickly.
While this is only a theory, it makes a lot of sense.
4. Number Of Reports
Finally, the number of people reporting a post does likely move reports up the queue.
While the number of reports won’t change the outcome, it does likely ensure that the post will be reviewed more quickly.
When you think about it, this one makes a lot of sense as well. If a large number of people are reporting a post, it means a few things:
- It’s less likely that the reports are false, since it’s rare for lots of people to file false reports against someone.
- If the user is breaking a rule, that post is already reaching a lot of different people.
Therefore, Instagram will surely want to make sure it’s dealt with straight away, to avoid more people from being exposed to rule-breaking content.
Of course, unless a rule has actually been broken, the Instagram will not be deleted, and the post will stay up.
So, I cannot stress enough that you should only report posts that actually violate the rules.
Conclusion
If a user has truly broken one of Instagram’s rules, then it only takes a single report to get their account banned.
However, if someone hasn’t broken the rules, no number of reports will lead to their account being closed. Therefore, you should avoid filing any false reports, as this may make it more difficult for your reports to be taken seriously in the future.
I hope that this article has answered your questions. If you have any other questions about Instagram, feel free to ask them in the comment form below.
Wishing you the best,
– James McAllister