Facebook-owned Instagram is shutting down an app called Like Patrol for violating the social networks rules.

The app allowed those who downloaded it to scrape information from Instagram about the activity of other users.

Instagram has sent a cease and desist order for violating its scraping rules, which will hopefully halt Like Patrol's ability to collect data, and force the publisher to shut down the app, CNET reported on Thursday.

"Scraping violates our policies, and we take action against companies who we find to be engaging in it. Like Patrol was scraping people's data, so we are taking appropriate enforcement action against them," a Facebook spokesperson told CNET.

Back in October, Instagram killed its own 'Following' tab that allowed people to see what posts and accounts their friends were interacting with.

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Recently, Instagram has also rolled out a new mode called "Restrict" globally that will let users stop people who bully them via offensive posts or abusive comments.

A user can restrict someone by swiping left on a comment, through the Privacy tab in Settings, or directly on the profile of the account you intend to restrict. (IANS)