With a move that could be seen as limiting the spread of diverse political views, Meta, the parent company of popular social media platforms, has revealed a strategy that aims to diminish the circulation of political content on its apps.
Primarily, Meta’s recently-developed app Threads and Instagram, its more established platform, will reduce the recommendation of political posts.
Meta had previously imposed a similar policy on Facebook, aiming to decrease the prominence of political material in various features including the main feed, as well as recommended groups and pages. This decision to refrain from actively promoting political content will soon be integrated into Instagram and Reels as well, especially with the 2024 US elections on the horizon.
Newly introduced updates concerning the functioning of Instagram’s algorithms, as disclosed through the Instagram blog and Meta Transparency Center, will affect several key areas on the platform – Instagram Reels, Instagram Explore, and the In-Feed Recommendations.
Meta’s impending amendments will majorly affect how Instagram suggests content, but curiously, they will not tamper with posts by accounts that users are already following. This implies that posts by non-recommendable accounts – including those of political nature such as election news or social issues – will continue to be visible to their followers through various channels like Feed and Stories.
However, these will not be proactively recommended to users who do not follow the accounts, suppressing the growth of political accounts on the platform.
