If you spend time on social media, chances are you’ve seen posts you wish you hadn’t. Disturbing material—whether explicit, graphic, or offensive—has become part of the online experience. A recent viral video of political violence spread across platforms within hours, leaving many users exposed before they had a chance to look away.

While platforms claim to filter harmful posts, enforcement is uneven, and algorithms often push the very content that shocks or provokes. That’s why it’s important to take control where you can.

In this week’s “Tech Tip Tuesday”, we’ll share practical ways to manage disturbing or inappropriate content on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. These settings, filters, and quick actions won’t block everything, but they’ll help you reduce unwanted surprises and keep more control over your feed.

Why This Matters

• Exposure is high. Nearly 75% of U.S. adults use social media daily (Pew Research, 2024). The chance of encountering violent or inappropriate content is significant.
• It’s not just violence. Sexual content, pornographic material, profanity, or offensive posts can slip through filters and carry the same risks to focus and well-being.
• It takes a toll. The U.S. Surgeon General has found that adults who spend 3+ hours daily on social media are at higher risk of stress, anxiety, and distraction—especially when feeds include disturbing or inappropriate material.

With platforms unable to catch everything, you need to set your own guardrails.

How to Protect Yourself

On Facebook

• Adjust Feed Preferences. In News Feed Preferences, prioritize accounts you trust and hide sources of harmful content.
• Unfollow or Snooze. Remove upsetting posts from your feed without severing connections.
• Block keywords. In group or page settings, filter out violent, sexual, or offensive terms.
• Report harmful posts. Use Report Post to flag violent, sexual, or inappropriate content

On Instagram

• Sensitive Content Control. In Settings > Account > Sensitive Content Control, set to Less.
• Mute or unfollow. If accounts repeatedly share violent, sexual, or offensive posts, mute or unfollow to keep them out of your feed.
• Block words. In Settings > Privacy > Hidden Words, filter comments and DMs containing profanity or explicit language.
• Report disturbing posts. Tap the three dots and choose Report for anything violent, sexual, or offensive.

On TikTok

• Mark “Not Interested.” Press and hold on a video, then select Not Interested to reduce similar content.
• Filter keywords. In Settings > Content Preferences > Filter video keywords, add words tied to violence, sexual content, or offensive language.
• Enable Restricted Mode. Found under Digital Wellbeing, this reduces exposure to adult or graphic material.
• Report harmful content. Don’t rely on others—report violent, sexual, or offensive videos immediately.

Habits That Help

• Act immediately. Don’t just scroll past—mute, block, or report as soon as you see disturbing content.
• Review settings regularly. Features move or change; check every few months.
• Limit passive scrolling. The more you scroll without purpose, the more likely you’ll run into upsetting posts.
• Curate intentionally. Follow accounts that add value and cut those that don’t.

Final Note

You can’t prevent people from posting violent or inappropriate material—whether it’s sexual, explicit language, or graphic videos. And platforms can’t always guarantee that harmful content won’t slip through. But you can take steps to reduce how much of it reaches you.

These tools won’t block everything, but they make a real difference. They give you back control of your feed, your focus, and your peace of mind.