The GIF function was integrated from Giphy’s server so that Instagrammers would have access to thousands of GIFs with just a keyword search.
Apart from Instagram, Snapchat also introduced the new function.
To be honest, we enjoyed the function very much as it helped spice up our Instagram stories and made it even more entertaining. But recently, some users noticed that the function was missing from the menu bar.
We thought it could be just a temporary bug or glitch, but that’s not the case. Apparently, the function has been removed indefinitely.
According to The Verge, the removal was done following a complaint by a user who found an insensitive and racist GIF after searching for the word ‘crime’.
Her search results showed something more than what she was expecting – one of the GIF had the words ‘N**** Crime Death Counter’ with a monkey cranking the number counter while a guy with a microphone says, “Keep cranking bonzo, the numbers just keep on climbing!”
Instagram then issued a statement saying that “this type of content has no place on Instagram. We have stopped our integration with Giphy as they investigate the issue.”
After investigating the issue, Giphy then issued a statement by acknowledging that the racist GIF was available due to “a bug in our content moderation filters”. The GIF has since been removed following the bug fix.
No word yet on whether the GIF function will return to Snapchat and Instagram as both social media platforms have said that they have temporarily halted the feature while they wait for Giphy to sort it out.
Well, let's just hope that the GIF function will return soon because we already miss it!