Instagram Implements Measures to Restrict Political Content

Instagram has introduced new measures to curtail the visibility of political content, requiring users to adjust settings to view such posts.

Users must now navigate to their settings and access “Content preferences,” then toggle the option “Limit political content from people you don’t follow” to deactivate the default limitation imposed by Instagram.

This decision follows Instagram’s announcement in February that it would cease actively recommending political content.

“We aim for Instagram and Threads to provide a positive experience for all users,” a statement on Instagram’s blog from the previous month asserts. “While we respect users’ choice to follow accounts that share political content, we’re refraining from actively promoting political posts from untracked accounts.”

The blog post further elaborates, “We’re extending our existing approach to handling political content. We won’t actively recommend political content across recommendation surfaces on Instagram and Threads. However, users who wish to view such posts will have the option to enable them.”

Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, underscored the policy’s objective over a month ago on Threads, stating, “Our aim with this change is to maintain individuals’ ability to engage with political content while honoring their preferences.”

Addressing the adjustment, Dani Lever, a Meta spokesperson, clarified in an email to The Hill, “This update primarily affects content recommendations rather than posts from accounts users choose to follow. Users retain control over their preferences for viewing political content.”

Lever emphasized, “This announcement builds upon our ongoing efforts to refine our approach to political content, driven by user feedback. Users now have the autonomy to determine whether they wish to receive recommendations for such content.”