Instagram Live has added support for moderators who can help streamers prevent their chats from being filled with abusive, dubious, or just plain unwanted messages from viewers.
Instagram says that streamers can designate someone as a Live Moderator capable of reporting comments, preventing another viewer from commenting on a particular broadcast, or removing the viewer from that broadcast entirely. (At least until they switch to their “finsta.”)
These basic tools have been available on Twitch, YouTube, and other livestreaming platforms for years. That hasn’t stopped people from hurling abuse on those platforms—or even using bots to conduct “hate raids” on certain streamers—despite facing legions of volunteer moderators.
But it does seem kind of strange that Instagram Live is only now letting streamers recruit some mods of their own, especially since Instagram proper has faced increasing scrutiny over the effects its platform can have on users, particularly those on the younger end of the spectrum.
