Keyword blocking is the fastest native win in comment moderation: decide which words, phrases, and emojis you never want under your content, and let the platform hide matching comments automatically. Facebook and Instagram both support it, with slightly different mechanics.
Blocking words on Instagram
Instagram's Hidden Words feature has two parts: a platform-maintained filter for offensive content you can toggle on, and a custom list where you add your own words, phrases, and emojis. Comments that match are hidden from public view rather than deleted, so you can review and unhide mistakes. Hidden Words lives in the app's settings; search for it by name if the menus have moved.
Blocking words on Facebook Pages
Facebook Pages have keyword moderation in the Page settings: comments containing words you block are hidden automatically. Pages also offer a profanity control backed by Meta's own lists. Like Instagram, matched comments are hidden — still visible to their authors — not removed.
Where raw keyword lists break down
- Creative spelling and leetspeak slide past exact-match lists.
- Multilingual audiences need every variant in every language, forever.
- Innocent uses of a blocked word get hidden too — false positives cost real conversations.
- Lists rot: yesterday's scam phrasing is not tomorrow's.
Pair keywords with AI rules
Keyword lists are precise but brittle; AI moderation is the complement. AI profanity and negativity rules judge meaning rather than exact strings, which catches misspellings and other languages without you enumerating them. A whitelist protects the terms that are innocent in your context, and hidden comments stay reviewable so a human can correct any call.
A setup that holds up
- Turn on the native offensive-content filters on both platforms.
- Add a short custom list: scam phrases, contact-detail bait, and terms specific to your brand's risks.
- Layer AI profanity and negativity rules for everything the list cannot spell.
- Auto-hide URLs, emails, and phone numbers — most spam needs a link to work.
- Review the hidden queue weekly and prune rules that misfire.