Instagram today said it is taking steps to reduce what it calls "inauthentic activity" across the social network. The company says more accounts have begun to use third-party apps to boost their follower numbers and inflate like counts. The company plans to put a stop to this. "We will begin removing inauthentic likes, follows, and comments from accounts that use third-party apps to boost their popularity," said Instagram. The company is relying on machine learning to discover such accounts and delete fake followers and likes. "This type of behavior is bad for the community," said Instagram and "also makes these accounts less secure." Instagram will alert users who've put such apps to effect that the fake followers and likes have been removed from their account. Instagram will also have these account holders change their password. The social network's new measures will be "ongoing." Moreover, people who continue to use third-party apps to inflate their profiles "may see their Instagram experience impacted." The company plans to take additional measures in the weeks ahead.


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