User:Adji M 13/sandbox

Instagram:

Mental health
Instagram has been ranked the most detrimental social media to young people’s mental health.   Research suggests that young people who spend more than two hours per day on sites such as Facebook or Instagram, have better chances to report bad mental health. In 2017, a survey from The UK’s Royal Society for Public Health found that high levels of anxiety, depression and a “fear of missing out (FOMO).” can be associated with Instagram and other social networking sites. They also found that Instagram is correlated to negative body image, bullying, loneliness and poor sleep habits. Many young people encounter low self-esteem problems because of the unrealistic expectations set by social media. As people add many filters and edits to their pictures, a lot of Instagram users easily feel insecure. Furthermore, constantly being exposed to posts of friends having fun can lead to feelings of sadness and anxiety in young people who may feel as if they were missing out on life. There is also evidence that Instagram increases feelings of inadequacy. Looking flawless has always been what Instagram is all about but the sudden backlash may be due to the social media's introduction of a new algorithmic timeline in 2016, which made it more unrealistic than it already was.

To help young people in their battle with Mental health and make social media safer, the RSHP has made several recommendations in its 2017 report; recommendations including the establishment of a pop-up heavy usage warning, icons or watermarks to highlight when people have edited their pictures which two third of young people support.

Censorship of users
Instagram has faced a lot of criticism from its users who claim they have been secretly censored. This secret blacklisting and censorship is called "shadow banning". However, even though the head of Instagram has denied the existence of this practice on the platform, they have admitted in 2017, to having technical difficulties with their hashtag search. According to many sources, Instagram uses shadow banning to police its community. Many reasons could cause being "shadow banned" by Instagram: hashtag abuse or using hashtags banned by Instagram, commenting or following too many other accounts in a small lapse of time, using bots or potentially offensive content.

China
Instagram has been censored in China since 2014 following the Hong Kong protests, but it is now completely banned. Facebook, who bought Instagram, has already been banned in the country since 2009. The ban of multiple western applications helps control the circulation of information in the country and also the development of the Chinese technology companies.

Turkey
Turkey has passed a law granting the government a lot of power over social media, including Instagram. The new law requires social networking sites with over one million users to assign a legal representative in Turkey to manage the court requests. According to Tom Porteous, member of the Human Rights Watch, this law signals a new era of online censorship.

North Korea
North Korea has some of the strictest censorship in the world. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the country is second worst for press freedom. Social media is prohibited to all North Koreans but the country has allowed sites like Facebook and Instagram for foreingn visitors since they have been allowed to use 3G.