Newsletter
2024 is a busy year, especially in the political context. Elections will take place in major parts of the world, including the US Presidential Election, South African General Elections, and Indian General Elections. There’s no denying that social media doesn’t help people shape opinions, especially about global leaders. While this may help build awareness, it has the potential of playing the devil’s skit. Amid this situation, Meta has come forward with a distinctive approach. It says that Instagram and Threads will not recommend political content if you wish to. Not to forget, Google had also mentioned something on the same notes about how it’d limit election-related queries on Bard.
Instagram and Threads will limit political content
Meta is expanding an existing policy to Instagram and Threads. Previously, political content from accounts users don’t follow was restricted in suggestions on Reels. Now, this policy extends to Threads and Instagram as well.
Instagram boss Adam Mosseri shared related updates on Threads. He confirmed that these updates will be coming over the next few weeks. Meta-owned Facebook, which was embroiled in the Cambridge Analytica data scandal involving the improper use of user data to create voter profiles, will implement similar measures at a later date.
“Our goal is to preserve the ability for people to choose to interact with political content while respecting each person’s appetite for it,” writes Mosseri.
There’s always an option to go back
With that said, Instagram and Threads aren’t overriding the preferences of political aficionados. They’ll always have an option to reverse these changes within the app. They can find the toggle to limit or not limit political content in the app’s Suggested Content section.
However, it won’t affect how users see posts from accounts they follow directly. So, users who follow those Instagram and Threads accounts that post political content needn’t worry.
Meta also said that Professional accounts on Instagram will be able to check if they’re eligible for content recommendations based on their recent political posts. They can do this using the Account Status feature. These users can review their recent posts, make changes if needed, ask for a review if they disagree with Meta’s decision, or stop posting political content temporarily to become eligible for recommendations again.