Let AI hide spam, flag upset customers and protect your posts around the clock — in plain English, no keyword lists
Your comment sections are public. Spam links, hateful remarks and angry customers sit right under your best content, often for hours before anyone on your team sees them. Comment Moderation reads every new comment on your Instagram posts, Reels and ads, checks it against rules you write in plain English, and acts right away: it hides what shouldn't be seen, flags what needs a person, and leaves everything else alone.
Facebook comments are coming soon. Today Comment Moderation works on Instagram. Facebook Page messages are not affected.
What you need
- An Instagram business account connected to Rep AI.
- Omnichannel AI active on your account (the free tickets count). Moderation itself never uses a ticket.
Turn it on
- In your Rep AI Console, open AI Social → Comment Moderation.
- Pick Instagram in the channel bar at the top.
- Switch Moderation is off to Moderation is on.
The first time you turn it on, Rep AI adds four ready-made rules (see below), so you're protected from the first comment. You'll also find the same page under Settings → Integrations → Instagram → Comment Moderation.
More than one Instagram account? Open AI Social → Overview. In Connected accounts, each account has its own Moderation switch, so you can moderate one account and leave another alone.
Rules: tell the AI what to moderate
Click the gear next to Active rules to open Moderation rules. Each rule has three parts:
- Rule name — a short label you'll see on flagged comments, e.g. Competitor mentions.
- Description — what to catch, written the way you'd explain it to a new team member, e.g. "Comments that mention a competitor by name or link to another store." Up to 500 characters.
- Action — what happens when a comment matches:
| Action | What happens |
|---|---|
| Hide | The comment is hidden from your audience right away. You can unhide it at any time. |
| Flag for review | The comment stays visible and lands in Needs action so your team can decide. Nothing changes on Instagram. |
| Delete | The comment is removed from Instagram. Deleted comments can't be restored. |
| Don't reply | The comment stays visible, and Rep won't reply to it. |
Click Add rule, then Save changes. You can have up to 50 rules, and you can delete any rule you added yourself.
The four rules you start with
| Rule | Action | What it catches |
|---|---|---|
| Spam & self-promotion | Hide | Spam, unsolicited ads, promotional or scam links, and repetitive self-promotion unrelated to the post |
| Hate speech & harassment | Hide | Hate speech, harassment, threats, slurs, and personal attacks on your brand, your team or other people |
| Customer complaints | Flag for review | Upset customers escalating in public — calling the store a scam, threatening a chargeback or legal action, demanding a refund in a dispute, reporting an injury or safety problem. Ordinary questions about an order, delivery, return or refund are not flagged, so Rep can answer them. |
| Giveaway entries & friend tags | Don't reply | Comments that enter a giveaway or only tag friends, like "Done! @anna @ben". They stay visible. |
Review what the AI did
The Comment Moderation page opens on your activity:
- Needs action — flagged comments waiting for your decision.
- Resolved — comments that were hidden, deleted, unhidden, dismissed or skipped.
At the top you'll see Processed, Auto-handled, Needs decision and Skipped for the last 7, 30 or 90 days. Filter by All types, Needs decision or Hidden by AI.
Each comment card shows the rule that matched, the AI's reason, whether the comment was on a Post, Reel or Ad, and an On: {post} ↗ link that opens the comment on Instagram. From the card you can:
- Hide comment or Unhide
- Delete (you'll be asked to confirm — this can't be undone)
- Dismiss — keep the comment as it is and clear it from Needs action
- Reply — open a reply that Rep has already drafted from your catalog and policies. Edit it or send it as is. Replies you send yourself are always free.
Good to know
- What's covered: comments on your Instagram posts, Reels and ads, including boosted posts. Comments on Stories and Instagram Live aren't moderated.
- New comments only. Moderation acts on comments that arrive after you turn it on.
- Moderation comes first. A comment that is hidden or flagged never gets an AI reply, even when AI Comment Replies are on.
- No tickets used. Hiding, flagging and deleting are free. Moderation keeps running when your tickets run out, as long as Omnichannel AI is active.
- Try a comment first. Open AI Social → Test & Train, switch to Comments, and paste any comment to see which rule it would match. Nothing is posted.
Frequently asked questions
Does moderation use my Omnichannel AI tickets?
No. Moderation is free. Only the replies Rep posts for you can use a ticket.
Can I undo something the AI hid?
Yes. Open the comment under Resolved and click Unhide. Deleted comments can't be restored, which is why the starter rules hide instead of delete.
Will the AI delete comments on its own?
Only if you create a rule with the Delete action. None of the starter rules delete.
Why wasn't a comment moderated?
Check that Moderation is on, that the account's Moderation switch is on in Overview, and that the comment is on a post, Reel or ad (not a Story or Live). Then paste the comment into Test & Train → Comments to see how your rules read it, and sharpen the rule description if needed.
Does it work on Facebook?
Facebook comments are coming soon. In the meantime the Facebook pill in the channel bar shows Coming soon.