Instagram Reenables GIFs Back to Stories But With Stricter Moderation

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Instgram GIFs
(Source: Liftlie)

The image-sharing app brings back GIFs to Instagram Stories but with tighter moderation.

Instgram GIFs
(Source: Liftlie)

Earlier this year, Instagram (and Snapchat) partnered with Giphy to allow users to add GIFs to their Stories. However, the Giphy sticker feature was removed after a user found a racist GIF in early March. The GIF appeared when someone searched for the word “Crime”.

Once informed, Giphy immediately took down the sticker. “After investigation of the incident, this sticker was available due to a bug in our content moderation filters specifically affecting GIF stickers,” the company explained. Snapchat and Instagram took immediate actions and suspended the GIF feature.

According to TechCrunch, the bug has since been resolved. Giphy assures that the offending sticker has been deleted and their entire library was “re-moderated four times”. They also added another level of GIPHY moderation before each sticker is approved into their library.

In a statement, Giphy has apologised for the incident. “We take full responsibility for this recent event and under no circumstances does GIPHY condone or support this kind of content.”

With these added measures, Instagram has re-enabled GIFs in their Stories again. “We’ve been in close contact with Giphy throughout this process and we’re confident that they have put measures in place to ensure that Instagram users have a good experience.”