Instagram is distancing itself (and you) from political content | TechCrunch Minute

Instagram is automatically filtering out Political content for every user and yes This is an election year and no the Company has not clearly defined what Political content means let's get into It Instagram and threads have changed Their content recommendation systems to Filter out political content from people That you don't follow which means that During an election year in the US Instagram's billions of users won't be Able to see anything that the algorithm Deems political unless they purposefully Change their settings on one hand this Could be useful for people who want a Breather from potentially toxic content Or misinformation but it could also Silo Us further into our own Echo Chambers And limit our ability to consider Political issues from multiple Perspectives or learn about Community Organizing efforts in our area users are Also concerned because it's still Unclear what political content means Instagram defines this as potentially Related to things like laws elections or Social topics but this definition leaves Us with a few questions what is Potentially related and what does social Topics mean could this be used to limit Content from queer Educators or block Lives matter Advocates or anyone who Wants to use their platform on Instagram To talk about what matters to them you

Can opt out of this by going to your Settings on the Instagram app and Changing your filter settings we walk You through this on a post on TechCrunch So why is Instagram doing this well in The last US presidential election Facebook was held responsible for some Of the spread of disinformation Information and organizing that led to The January 6th attacks on the capital And in 2016 there was the Cambridge Analytica Scandal which saw a political Consulting Group hijacked the data of Millions of Facebook users and use it to Support the Donald Trump presidential Campaign meanwhile internationally Facebook played a role in the genocide In Myanmar and just generally has a Horrific track record when it comes to Political interference and all around The globe meta continues to deprioritize News across all of its platforms at meta HQ another US presidential election Might just mean that another public Mishap is inevitable but if these Political content filters prevent us From learning about the world around us And connecting with others in our Communities to advocate for ourselves Then this can't be the answer to medis Foibles