The term “shadow ban” refers to a practice where a person is removed from the community without being notified. Instagram creators believe that the app does this for perceived infractions against the Terms of Service that don’t necessarily rise to the level of an outright ban, pointing to notable declines in their reach after controversial posts. Instagram denies doing this.

The new feature would make comments from a bully invisible to everyone but themselves, in essence leaving them shouting into a void without realizing that their comments are not being seen by others.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri said “We’ve heard from young people in our community that they’re reluctant to block, unfollow, or report their bully because it could escalate the situation, especially if they interact with their bully in real life, some of these actions also make it difficult for a target to keep track of their bully’s behavior.”