This NGO Is Buying Fake Followers for Hate Accounts on Instagram to Fight Hate Speech

Online hate speech is a challenge on all online platforms. It breeds bullying, harassment and has led young people into echo chambers that incite mental and physical violence and hate. Instagram, however, has long been able to go under the radar. The platform has 1 billion monthly active users and the biggest share of young users between 18 and 24 years of age (30%), more than Facebook and YouTube.

Calling Instagram to act against growing online hate speech

To address the problem, NVPF has taken an unusual approach. The NGO discovered that while Instagram doesn’t automatically ban hate-spreading accounts, the algorithm does punish accounts who buy fake followers.

In its new initiative, NVPF is buying fake followers to targeted hate accounts, with the aim of triggering the algorithm to shadow-ban and ultimately shut these accounts down. By doing this, NVPF wants to draw attention from the public, regulators, and above all, call Instagram to act against growing online hate speech. In connection with the initiative, NVPF has sent out an open letter to Instagram.

"What we’re doing might seem like an extreme action, but it is needed to raise the attention on this serious issue. We are seeing alarming developments in social media and especially towards young people. We are truly hoping that Instagram will acknowledge and respond in a responsible way as we call for concrete self-regulatory measures," says Rolf Skjöldebrand, co-founder Non-Violence Project.

The concept was developed by NORD DDB. The initiative is ongoing, and anyone can donate to buy fake followers to hate accounts on the campaign site. To grab Instagram’s attention, NVPF also placed out an outdoor billboard with the open letter outside Meta’s office in Menlo Park, USA.