Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, has announced that Meta will no longer actively promote political content on Instagram and Threads. This decision will be gradually implemented over the next few weeks and will affect how content is recommended in areas such as Instagram’s Reels, explore sections, and Threads’ suggested user feature.
While users may still encounter political posts from accounts they follow, Meta’s algorithms will no longer proactively amplify such material. However, the company has not provided detailed criteria for what constitutes “political” content. A spokesperson clarified that this category would include topics related to government, elections, and social issues.
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Meta’s plan is to limit recommendations on sensitive topics by default, but users can adjust their preferences through the settings on Instagram and Threads. This update is intended to preserve the visibility of posts from accounts that users have actively chosen to follow.
This decision aligns with Meta’s broader strategy to minimize discussions on Threads about potentially contentious subjects. The company has already filtered out “potentially sensitive” topics from Threads’ search results, including terms related to vaccines and COVID-19.
Adam Mosseri has emphasized Meta’s intention to avoid promoting discussions on politics and hard news within the app, signaling a deliberate effort to shape the content landscape of the platform.
