Instagram to let users report fake posts with special button

New feature comes as Facebook looks to limit spread of fake stories

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during a press event at Facebook headquarters on June 20, 2013 in Menlo Park, California (Getty Images)

Instagram is adding a special button to allow people to report fake posts.

The company is rolling out a special "reporting tool" that will let users complain about anything on the site that includes misinformation.

The new update will arrive at the end of August, Instagram said.

Reporting misinformation in Instagram does not necessarily get it removed. But it does get it hidden from the "Explore" and hashtag pages, in an attempt to stop it from spreading.

To use the new reporting feature, users can press the "Report" button as they would for other problems with the post. But there will now be an extra option: under the "It's Inappropriate" button, there will be the option to press "False Information".

Those complaints will then train an artificial intelligence tool, Instagram said. It hopes it can use that tool to automatically and proactively spot fake stories on Instagram before people have to report them.

Instagram said that the new changes were just an "initial step" and that a "more comprehensive approach" would arrive later.

It comes as Facebook attempts to stop the spread of misinformation across its platforms. That same effort has brought changes to the way that WhatsApp and Facebook itself work, too.