Whether you use Instagram for posting selfies, sharing pictures of your dinner, following the latest happenings of your favourite celebs, or running your online shop, it’s undeniable how the app has become a big part of our lives. It’s also really important to learn how to stay safe and secure on Instagram, as sharing content with such wide reaching audiences comes with its own set of risks.

Instagram has safety tools which range from account security to engagement and comment moderation, all with the aim of helping you stay safe on the platform. Follow these tips to secure your account and enjoy a safe experience on Instagram.

Make your passwords strong and undisclosed
The first step to securing your account from unauthorised access is a strong password. For many people, the choice of a password is made based on memorability and this means that in many cases, passwords are simple and repeated for accounts on different platforms. Passwords like this make your account prone to unauthorised access.

Our tip for choosing a strong password is to use a combination of at least six numbers, letters and symbols to form a password that you use for only Instagram. This unique password should be kept safe and known to only you to avoid access to your account.

Also, if you ever have to access your account from another or a shared device, do not check the “Remember Me” box when logging in and remember to log out of your account when you’re done.

Set up two-factor authentication for safer access
In addition to choosing a strong password, setting up two-factor authentication is great for securing your Instagram account. Two-factor authentication is basically a process that requires multiple sign-in processes in order to secure your account.

This means that in addition to providing your account username and password when signing in, two-factor authentication will also require your phone number every time you log into your account from a new device.

With this process, even if someone else has your password, they would be unable to log into your account if they do not have your phone.

Switch your account to private to manage who sees your posts
Generally, accounts on Instagram are visible to the entire user community except for accounts that have been set to private. You can switch your account to a private account to control who can and cannot see your content on the platform.

Private account users also have the ability to remove followers without necessarily using the “Block” button. Switch your account from public to private by following three easy steps: go to your profile, navigate from your profile to the “Settings” gear, then toggle “Private Account” on.

With your Instagram account in private, you will have to approve every follow request and be able to enjoy the other benefits of private accounts.

Block users from seeing your posts
Even if you do not want to make your account private, you can enjoy a safer experience on Instagram by blocking people you do not want to see your posts. The blocking tool on Instagram helps you remove people who you do not want to see your posts.

To block an account, go to the account’s profile, open the menu in the upper right corner and tap on “Block User”. Don’t worry, Instagram does not notify users when you block them, and even though they can still mention your username on Instagram, this mention will not appear in your Activity.

If you go ahead and change your username on Instagram after blocking a user, they will be unable to mention you unless they know your new username.

Report abuse, bullying, impersonation or harassment
Help make Instagram safe for yourself and your friends by reporting any questionable activity or content that is against the Community Guidelines. If you see any form of abuse, bullying, harassment or impersonation, report it to make Instagram safe for all.

Follow these steps to report abuse, bullying, harassment or impersonation on Instagram:

● To report a comment, swipe to the left and tap the arrow.

● To report a specific post or an account, tap the “…” menu and then “Report.”

Control the comments you want to see
Majority of the conversations on Instagram happen in the comments and it is important for you to feel comfortable with the conversations that happen in the comments under your post.

Instagram enables you to filter comments based on specific keywords or default keywords that have been identified. Otherwise, you can delete unwanted comments on your post by swiping left and tapping on the trash icon.

Alternatively, you can disable comments on your posts by toggling “Turn Off Commenting” in “Advanced Settings”. On an older post, you can turn off commenting by tapping on the “…” menu.

22 February 2022 Today, Meta is expanding the availability of Facebook Reels for iOS and Android to more than 20 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. Meta is also introducing better ways to help creators to earn money, new creation tools and more places to watch and create Facebook Reels.



Prior to this launch Reels was available on Facebook in India, Mexico, Canada, the U.S, and is now available across sub-Saharan Africa in: Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Swaziland, South Africa, Seychelles, Senegal, Rwanda, Nigeria, Namibia, Mali, Malawi, Lesotho, Kenya, Guinea, Ghana, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Burkina Faso.



Commenting on the launch Nunu Ntshingila, Regional Director for sub-Saharan Africa at Meta says, “We’ve seen that video now accounts for almost all of the time people spend on Facebook and Instagram, and Reels is our fastest growing content format by far. This is why we’re focused on making Reels the best way for creators to get discovered, connect with their audience and earn money. We also want to make it fun and easy for people to find and share relevant and entertaining content.”


Facebook Reels Experience_de_DE.png


Meta is also creating a variety of opportunities for creators to earn money for their reels. The Reels Play bonus program, part of Meta’s $1 billion creator investment, pays eligible creators up to $35,000 a month based on the views of their qualifying reels. In the coming months, the bonus program will be extended to more countries, so more creators can get rewarded for creating reels that their communities love.



As part of the launch Meta is also launching brand suitability controls, including Publisher Lists, Blocklists, Inventory Filters and Delivery Reports for Banner and Sticker Ads in Facebook Reels in every region they are available, giving advertisers more control over how their ads appear in places they don’t consider suitable for their brand or campaign. Additionally, Meta has been testing full-screen and immersive ads in between Facebook Reels since October of last year, and will roll them out to more places around the world over the coming months. Just like with organic content on Facebook, people can comment, like, view, save, share and skip them.

More Editing Features



In addition to the features announced last year, creators around the world will be able to access:



● Remix: Create your own reel alongside an existing, publicly-shared reel on Facebook. When you create a Remix, you can create a reel that includes all or part of another creator’s reel.

● 60-second Reels: Make reels up to 60 seconds long.

● Drafts: You will soon be able to create a reel and choose to “Save As Draft” below the Save button.

● Video Clipping: In the coming months, we’re planning to roll out video clipping tools that will make it easier for creators who publish live or long-form, recorded videos to test different formats.



Create and Discover Reels in New Places



Over the coming weeks, the following updates will be rolled out to make it easier to create and discover reels in new places:





● Reels in Stories: You can share public reels to Stories on Facebook, making it easy to share favourite reels with friends and giving creators more visibility and reach. You’ll also be able to create reels from existing public stories.

● Reels in Watch: You’ll be able to watch reels directly within the Watch tab and we’re developing tools to help you create reels in the Watch tab as well.

● Top of Feed: We’re adding a new Reels label at the top of Feed so you’ll be able to easily create and watch reels in just a few clicks.

● Suggested Reels in Feed: In select countries, we’re starting to suggest reels that you may like in your Feed from people you do not already follow.

Meta is also exploring ways to make it easier for creators to share Reels to both their Facebook and Instagram audiences, such as cross posting.

You can find Facebook Reels in Feed, Groups and Watch. When viewing a reel, you can follow the creator directly from the video, like and comment on it or share it with friends.

Lagos, Nigeria, 08 December 2021 – WhatsApp, has announced the launch of #YouSaid, a campaign to educate people on how to verify information they come across before passing it on, to help reduce the spread of false news in Nigeria.


The campaign offers tips for WhatsApp users to spot false news and take responsibility in minimizing its spread, by encouraging people to think carefully and check authoritative sources before deciding to share any information with their friends and family.

“At WhatsApp, all personal messages are protected with end-to-end encryption because the safety and security of our users and their messages is important to us. ” Akua Gyekye, WhatsApp Public Policy Lead said while commenting on the launch of the campaign. “While we remain committed to creating a safe space for our users to communicate privately, we encourage everyone to verify any information they receive and confirm whether it is true or false before sharing it with other people. Regardless of the person you received the information from, as soon as you share any information, it becomes something people think #YouSaid. Our hope is that this campaign will open up a conversation on the importance of verifying information and thinking carefully about what people read, trust and choose to share” Gyekye added.

Here are four easy ways to reduce the spread of false news on WhatsApp:

Understand what a ‘Forwarded’ message means: Any message that has the ‘forwarded’ label (an arrow or double arrow icon) did not start with the person who sent it to you. They will also have received it from someone else before passing it on to you. If you are not sure the information is true, do not forward it to someone else without verifying it.
A double arrow icon and “Forwarded many times” label will be displayed when a message has been forwarded more than five times since it was originally sent and will restrict sharing to just one chat at a time.

Always fact check information with other sources:  False news can go viral, and photos, audio recordings, and videos can be edited to mislead you. If you’re unsure whether a message is true, check trusted news sites to see where the story came from. When a story is reported in multiple places and from trustworthy sources, it’s more likely to be true.

Look out for messages that look different: If you receive messages that have such things like misspelled words, wrong dates, awkward layouts, unrelated pictures and web addresses (URLs), it’s a sign that the information could be false.

Read the message objectively: Don’t let what you think you know get in the way of your judgment. Review the facts yourself before sharing information. Stories that seem hard to believe are often untrue.

Today, WhatsApp protects the personal communication of over two billion users all over the world, securing it with end-to-end encryption by default.