How Many Reports Are Needed to Delete an Instagram Account?

Did someone report your Instagram account recently, and you’re afraid it might get deleted?

Don’t worry. Instagram doesn’t delete accounts based on the number of user reports.

How many reports are necessary to delete an Instagram account?

Nowhere in the official guidelines does it say anything of this nature? Instead, Instagram uses other factors when determining whether to delete accounts or not:

The severity of the user’s breach of guidelines;
The number of warnings that the user receives.

Moreover, even if hundreds of people report you, Instagram will only issue a single warning (if warranted).

Keep reading to learn more about how Instagram deletes accounts based on user reports!

Summary: Contrary to popular belief, Instagram doesn't delete accounts based on the number of user reports. 

Instead, the platform evaluates the severity of the user's breach of guidelines and the number of warnings received. 

This article delves into the factors that can lead to account deletion, such as threats, spam, copyright infringement, animal violence, posting sensitive content, violent content, adult content, identity fraud, racism, and discrimination. 

Remember that the severity of the offense, rather than the number of reports, is what determines the fate of an Instagram account.

How Many Reports Are Necessary to Delete an Instagram Account?

Instagram may delete your account after one report or never, despite receiving hundreds of user reports.

That’s because to Instagram; it matters if you’re guilty or not. Instagram has no reason to delete your account if you receive fake user reports.

And then, if they find you guilty, they won’t delete your account automatically. They’ll want to assess the severity of your violation.

If you don’t do something that bad, they’ll delete your content and give you a warning. After receiving multiple warnings, you’ll be notified that any further warnings will result in account deletion.

The total number of warnings before your Instagram account is deleted is unknown. But this is about “warnings from Instagram” and not “user reports.”

They’re two different things.

What Can Get Your Account Deleted on Instagram?

Instagram has a list of actions that are classified as infractions and will likely result in your account being deleted:

Threats – Threatening somebody on Instagram, whether through DMs or publicly, may get your account deleted after one report if sufficiently documented;
Spam – Spamming on Instagram may get your account deleted but not on a first offense. If you’re especially spammy and you don’t listen to the warnings from Instagram, expect your account to be terminated;
Copyright – This one is self-explanatory. If you use copyrighted content and someone reports you, Instagram may delete your account without any warnings. So, don’t post any copyrighted content on the app!
Animal Violence – Posting content showing animal violence or torture will get your account deleted immediately if someone reports you. In many cases, the censors will notice your content without receiving a report;
Posting sensitive content/information about someone else – If you post private information about someone else and the other person reports you, it could result in your Instagram account being deleted;
Violent Content – Content that is too graphic and gory will result in immediate account deletion if somebody reports it. This type of content includes violent acts;
Adult Content – Instagram will immediately delete the account of whoever posts 18+ adult content on the app. This includes both pictures and videos;
Identity Fraud – Instagram doesn’t take kindly to people impersonating other people. If you do that and you get reported, your account may be immediately deleted without a second warning. That’s because fraudsters of this type are usually looking to steal money or information;
Racism and Discrimination – Neither racism nor discrimination is tolerated on Instagram. The platform wants to create a safe space for everyone, including other races, gender orientations, and other categories of people. If you post racist or discriminatory content, your account will likely be deleted at once;

Some of these violations are so severe that you won’t receive a second warning. Your account will be deleted instantly.

Others, on the other hand, will result in multiple warnings and, eventually, account deletion if you ignore the warnings.

Conclusion

To summarize, Instagram doesn’t delete accounts based on the number of reports it receives.

The quantity doesn’t matter. But the quality does. The severity of the offense is what gets your account deleted.

However, this doesn’t apply to warnings given by Instagram. When you receive a warning, it means Instagram has found you guilty, but they won’t delete your account yet.

Your offense is not severe enough. But if you keep breaking the guidelines, they’ll eventually delete your account.

A repeat offender doesn’t receive as much leniency as a first-timer.

What happens if an Instagram account receives multiple reports?

When an Instagram account receives multiple reports but isn’t found guilty, nothing happens for the moment. However, the moderators will keep a close watch on that account. After all, it’s not normal for an account to receive many reports.
The account may not be guilty of violating Instagram’s user guidelines, but they’re more likely.
So, when that account breaches a user guideline, the moderators will react quicker and may not need a report to delete the account.
Moreover, if someone fake-reports an account multiple times, they may be penalized by Instagram (the fake reporter, not the reported account).

How many warnings are necessary for an Instagram account to be deleted?

We don’t know. Instagram doesn’t mention this as one of their official guidelines either. It could be one, two, or three warnings before your account is deleted. We assume it’s similar to the “number of reports” situation where quality matters more than quantity.
Instagram doesn’t issue warnings for repeated identical offenses. Rather, any repeated offense, no matter its nature, warrants a warning.
So, your first violation may warrant a warning because it’s not severe. However, your second violation could be so severe that your account will be deleted immediately.
In this case, we could say that one warning was necessary for your Instagram account to be deleted.
But that’s not technically accurate because your second violation wasn’t the same as your first.