Hundreds of Instagram hashtags will now trigger animal abuse alerts
That selfie with the adorably lazy sloth can have an impact on the animal more than people realize -- so starting Monday Instagram is warning users about their photos' potential link to animal abuse and harm.
The photo-sharing social network has hundreds of hashtags in their system that will now trigger a pop-up message when used or searched.
The warning text will alert the user about "harmful behavior to animals or the environment," such as poaching at eco-tourism companies or illegal animal trade networks.
The alert system builds off similar suicide prevention methods on Instagram, which sees pop-ups linked to hashtags connected with self harm.
The new message also warns users that "animal abuse and the sale of endangered animals or their parts is not allowed on Instagram."
World Animal Protection has previously petitioned Instagram to include more about wild animal abuse in Instagram's user guidelines.
Now the organization, along with the World Wildlife Fund, has helped the social network come up with a list of hundreds of hashtags to alert users about animal cruelty.
A hashtag like #slothselfie would trigger the new alert system, according to National Geographic, as would #koalaselfie according to the image above.
Hopefully the new pop-ups should make people think twice before posing for that selfie.
Topics Animals Instagram Social Media
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
