discussion Meta quietly add political content limit feature on Instagram, ON by DEFAULT

[ZeroSuitBritney]

Meta has added a feature to Instagram, which is ON by default for all users, to limit political content. According to the app settings page, "Political content is likely to mention governments, elections, or social topics that affect a group of people and/or society at large"

 

During an election year and active genocide, mind you. They aren't even hiding it anymore. 

 

 

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/03/instagram-users-outraged-by-app-limiting-political-content-ahead-of-elections/

 

To switch it back, simply go to your settings -> scroll down to "Content preferences" -> Political content -> switch to 'Don't Limit'

[Contessa]

Despicable

[Bartender]

zuckerberg can go **** himself

[Tropez]

You mean Meta the same place that was found to host a litany of false information? I guess the reason why they are doing this is because governments are cracking down on them for all the false information that dominates those websites. This is just a band-aid to say they did something to stem the problems. 

[truthteller]

[Moloko Plus]

Liberals showing off their true colors yet again

[Trent W]

Not defending this obviously 

 

But who goes to instagram to find political content?  

[Scandal]

13 minutes ago, Trent W said:

Not defending this obviously 

 

But who goes to instagram to find political content?  

what kind of argument or comment is this? there are 2 billion users on instagram so news obviously gets shared there + even if it had 10 users, that doesn't make censorship okay 

[sciencemagic]

Is this a bad thing…? It's been shown time and time again how the algorithm used by sites like Facebook, insta are basically echo chambers and they can often lead to radicalization and indoctrination in some ways, so if they're limiting that happening by default, I view that as a good thing?? This feature probably should've been publicized so users could select if they want political content or not. I hate Meta with a passion and people should stop using it, but I feel like this isn't that bad of a decision? 
 

this isn't censorship BFFR 

[ZeroSuitBritney]

58 minutes ago, Trent W said:

Not defending this obviously 

 

But who goes to instagram to find political content?  

Well when western media is censoring an ongoing genocide, is Instagram not an appropriate outlet for news showing what is actually happening?

[Trent W]

1 minute ago, ZeroSuitBritney said:

Well when western media is censoring an ongoing genocide, is Instagram not an appropriate outlet for news showing what is actually happening?

I said I was not defending this censorship 

 

But let's not pretend instagram is the best outlet to promote political content

[ZeroSuitBritney]

1 minute ago, Trent W said:

I said I was not defending this censorship 

 

But let's not pretend instagram is the best outlet to promote political content

What are some better alternatives?

[Domination]

It's obviously to a) reduce the amount of fake news and b) improve user engagement. Social media has literally become a cesspool of politics and it's become increasingly so for like the last ten years. It was probably good for business for some time around 2014-2017 but everything post 2020 BLM and the following election would lead me to believe that there's a tipping point and we reached it. The vast majority of people do not want to be voluntarily inundated with misery and regardless of political stance that is really all it's become.

[Trent W]

2 minutes ago, ZeroSuitBritney said:

What are some better alternatives?

X/Twitter and tiktok are the best social media outlets to spread political content

[ZeroSuitBritney]

3 minutes ago, Trent W said:

X/Twitter and tiktok are the best social media outlets to spread political content

I see the same exact political content on X and Instagram, considering I (and I'm assuming most other people) follow the same types of accounts on both platforms, so I don't understand what you're saying. TikTok is pretty similar too, and is on the verge of being banned in the United States.

[torturedpoet]

Good. I'm tired of seeing it tbh. Maybe everyone stops getting their dumb political opinions reinforced by equally dumb peers.
 

If you're going to Instagram to educate yourself on politics

[Dula Peep]

I just wanna see thotty thirst trap pics anyways on insta so... 

[Trent W]

21 minutes ago, ZeroSuitBritney said:

I see the same exact political content on X and Instagram, considering I (and I'm assuming most other people) follow the same types of accounts on both platforms, so I don't understand what you're saying. TikTok is pretty similar too, and is on the verge of being banned in the United States.

And that's your preference 

 

But obviously most of instagram is not the target for political content

The app was built on fashion, entertainment and beauty.

 

I'm not saying political content shouldn't be there, but most of people who use instagram don't want political content

[Pillz]

You can literally turn it off. This isn't censorship.

[spree]

17 hours ago, Trent W said:

X/Twitter and tiktok are the best social media outlets to spread political content

And 100% of all that content gets copy/pasted on IG.  
 

i use IG way more than TT so my feed is all political.

[Trent W]

57 minutes ago, spree said:

And 100% of all that content gets copy/pasted on IG.  
 

i use IG way more than TT so my feed is all political.

Again, that's your preference and that's okay

 

There is nothing wrong with people who don't want politics in ig, which is like 80% of the user base.

 

It is shady they did this quietly but most people there don't want politics so no big loss

Edited March 23 by Trent W