Instagram users will no longer find themselves bombarded with recommended political content, as the Meta-owned platform has ceased such recommendations. Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s chief, confirmed this decision, noting that users who follow specific political accounts will still receive suggestions tailored to their interests.
“We don’t want to interfere with your access to political posts if you choose to follow those accounts, but we also don’t want to actively push political content from accounts you haven’t followed,” stated a blog post introducing the update.
These changes affect recommendations across public accounts and areas where content is suggested, such as Explore, Reels, In-Feed Recommendations, and Suggested Users. However, it does not alter how content from followed accounts appears.
However, in the Indian political landscape, this adjustment might negatively impact influencers known for their politically themed content.
Content related to politics, including topics like laws, elections, or social issues, posted by ineligible accounts can still reach their followers through Feed and Stories.
Meta’s recent move aims to curb discussions on problematic political content that could spark conflicts on social media. Additionally, the company is downgrading content related to “vaccine” and “COVID,” further limiting political and hard news.
“Our objective is to maintain individuals’ freedom to engage with political content while respecting their individual preferences,” concluded Mosseri in the blog post.
Nevertheless, these updates have been met with disapproval from users and creators actively involved in political content. However, Instagram and thread creators can use the “account status” feature to determine if their content meets the eligibility criteria for recommendations.
The same blog post also announced the introduction of this feature on Facebook at a later date.