Instagram is about to get a 'hate' button.

Currently, this feature is only being tested with a small group of users, and it is unclear when it will be rolled out widely. Photo: Unsplash .

If you've recently noticed a new button next to the like button in Instagram's comments section, you're not mistaken. Instagram is testing a new feature: a "dislike" button for users to express their dislike of a comment, but nobody knows about it yet.

On the evening of February 13th, Threads user @crystalotv shared a screenshot of a down arrow button appearing next to the like button in the comments section of their post. The very next day, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri officially confirmed on Threads that the company was testing this feature to improve the quality of comments on the platform.

Mosseri explained that the "dislike" button wouldn't show the number of clicks. No one would know who clicked it, not even the person who wrote the comment or others reading and interacting. However, comments that received many "dislikes" might be pushed down in the comments section.

"Some of you may have noticed we're testing a new button next to comments on Instagram. This is a way for people to subtly signal that they're not comfortable with that comment."

I want to clarify: this is just an experiment, there will be no 'dislike' statistics, and nobody will know if you press this button. In the future, we may integrate this signal into the ranking algorithm to push 'disliked' comments lower. We hope this will make the comments section on Instagram more friendly,” Mosseri wrote.

The Instagram executive explained that this feature allows users a private way to express that they dislike or find a comment inappropriate.

According to Digital Trends , Instagram is testing this secret "dislike" button, which is somewhat similar to the "Ignore" feature on Discord, allowing users to silently block others without leaving a trace. Previously, Mosseri praised this feature as an upgraded version of Instagram's "Restrict" and Threads in a post on February 10th.

With "Restrict," if a user is restricted, they can still comment on your post. However, only they will see that comment; others will not be able to see it.

This isn't the first time there have been signs that Instagram is developing a "dislike" button. Last month, tech expert Alessandro Paluzzi posted on X that Instagram was testing the feature.

Meta stated that this is part of an effort to improve the quality of comments on Instagram. "We're testing a new button next to each comment on Reels or posts in the Feed so users can privately signal that they are uncomfortable with the comment or find it irrelevant."

"We'll start testing with a small group of users. In the future, we may experiment with pushing these comments further down to create a better experience," a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch.

In fact, the "dislike" button isn't a new idea. YouTube previously had one for videos , but the platform hid the public number of dislikes. Twitter (now X) once experimented with a "downvote" button for comments on its platform.

Reddit has had a "downvote" mechanism for many years, allowing users to express disagreement with comments, and also uses an upvote/downvote system to rank content. However, it's unclear whether Meta will adopt a similar mechanism or have its own way of displaying comments.

Currently, Instagram has not announced when the "dislike" button will be rolled out widely.