Instagram users will no longer be bombarded with irrelevant political information in their feeds. A blog post from Instagram stated that the social media platform will not "proactively recommend" political content from accounts that users are not already following.
The same policy applies to Threads, a Twitter-like service introduced last summer under the Instagram name.
"We want everyone to have an amazing experience with Threads and Instagram. We don't want to stand in the way of your decision to follow political accounts, but we also don't want to suggest political content from accounts you don't follow if you choose to do so," the Meta-owned business stated.
Threads by Instagram
Both Instagram and Threads will include a setting allowing users who still want to view political content recommendations to do so -- according to the post, the same control will be available on Facebook at a later date. Instagram defines "political content" as anything that is "potentially related to things like laws, elections or social topics."
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri stated in a Threads post, "Our goal is to preserve the ability for people to choose to interact with political content while respecting each person's appetite for it."
Instagram's revised policy prohibiting the recommendation of political content is applicable to Explore, Reels, In-Feed Recommendations, and Suggested Users.
META restricts
Meta has already deprioritized political content throughout its social media platforms, including Facebook. The company said in a post on its Transparency Centre website, "People have told us they want to see less political content, so we have spent the last few years refining our approach on Facebook to reduce the amount of political content - including from politicians' accounts - you see in Feed, Reels, Watch, Groups You Should Join, and Pages You May Like.”
According to the Instagram blog post, professional accounts on the app can use the Account Status setting to determine whether their posts are suitable for recommendation based on whether they recently shared "political content." If Instagram has removed an account's posts from recommendations, pro users can modify or remove recent posts to re-establish eligibility or seek a review if they disagree with Instagram's decision.
Image source: X(Twitter)/multiple sources
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