Facebook’s photo sharing platform Instagram makes it easier to verify profiles with a blue check mark – like celebrities.
Menlo Park (dpa) – The new feature is intended for accounts that many users follow, said co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Mike Krieger in a blog entry. You can request confirmation from your profile page and, among other things, send a copy of your documents. Instagram will examine the requests among other things, taking into account the popularity of a profile.
Fake accounts and automated bot profiles are a problem not only for Instagram , but also for Facebook and Twitter . That is why the services feature real profiles, especially of celebrities or public figures, with the blue check marks .
Twitter , however, had to roll back its verification program last year after confirmation of a racist account in the US caused a scandal. The short message service defended itself with the fact that the check mark was actually only intended to confirm the identity of a person on Twitter . However, the symbol next to the username is often interpreted as a sign of approval or the importance of a person, Twitter admitted .
In the future, Instagram also wants to show more information about a profile and allow the use of additional services for secure login to an account .
The measures are set against the backdrop of fears of new propaganda campaigns ahead of the major US Congressional elections in November. In the US presidential election campaign of 2016 – according to American accusations – from Russia on a large scale trying to manipulate public opinion on social networks.