The company also said it would not display user posts focused on legal, election or social issues from accounts the user does not follow.
“This announcement expands on years of work on how to access and address political content based on what people want,” said Meta spokesperson Dani Lever.
Mehta said users will still see politics-related posts in their primary feed from accounts they follow. But the new approach means users will be less likely to see politics-related content or accounts on Instagram's “Explore” page, short-form video products known as Reels, and user follow suggestion boxes. Meta also does not recommend politics to user feeds in Threads. Meta said it plans to develop tools to allow users to choose to see more political content, but said those tools will not be available.
Keith Edwards, a Democratic political strategist and content creator, met twice recently with the White House and urged officials there to join Threads, but said he now regrets the effort he put into the platform.
“The whole added value of social media for politicians is that they can reach regular people who might not otherwise hear the messages they need to hear, like that abortion is on the ballot in Florida or that the vote is being held today. . “Who watches TV anymore when there are TV commercials? Most people are on their phones, and the Meta app is where most people hang out.”
The change outraged some news and political producers. Many of them switched to Instagram's Threads app after the X account was influenced by Elon Musk. Elon Musk removed the blue checkmark and banned some progressive activists and journalists from the site.
Meta launched Threads last summer as an alternative to X. The service has grown rapidly by making it easy for users to import and follow their social connections on Instagram, and has been adopted by many high-profile journalists, celebrities, and content creators.
In recent years, Meta has increasingly avoided informing users of news and politics, facing criticism over how it manages misinformation, controversial ideas and extremism. Shortly after Meta launched Threads, Instagram head Adam Mosseri posted that the company would not “encourage” politics and “hard news” on its platform. He said the increased reader engagement resulting from such publicity was “just not worth the scrutiny, negativity (let's be honest), or integrity risks that come with it.”
Sari Beth Rosenberg, a podcaster in New York, said she moved to Threads after Musk took over and felt she couldn't connect with her audience on Twitter. “As hesitant as I am about the current Meta taking control of Threads, I was giving it a chance,” she said. … “But what they are doing is punishing and limiting a very important conversation about politics in the most important election of our time.”
Rosenberg has used his platform to educate people about public health and the coronavirus pandemic, but said that given the changes to Meta, he is now concerned that mentioning these topics will limit his reach.
Ena Da, a content creator in Brooklyn, said Meta's policies were very vague and she was concerned about its representation of social issues. “Some people’s entire existence and their perspectives will be viewed as political, as a black woman like me,” she said. “This will silence many marginalized people.”
Isaias Hernández, a Gen Z content creator who posts about protecting the environment, said the changes could result in voters becoming less educated during key election years. “Climate policy is a big factor in why many young people vote,” he said. “I think we’re going to lose a lot of voters if we don’t disclose climate information.”
Edwards, the political strategist, said the changes are likely to have political consequences. “[Meta] “With authoritarian movements on the rise in Western democracies, we are trying to change the world in a non-political way that will only benefit authoritarian movements,” he said.
Emily Amick, who has 133,000 accounts on Instagram, said the changes will have less of an impact on conservative creators. Many large right-wing content creators are experts at circumventing restrictions by not posting publicly about politics, she said.
“There is a lot of money behind right-wing influencers. “It’s a very robust ecosystem built for success on today’s internet, and these changes will only serve them better,” she said. She said she's already seen a drop in post views when she talks about political topics like abortion or guns.
“The right has really effectively developed content that maximizes the visual-based social media aesthetic,” she said. “Especially through her influencer wife. “They create content that doesn’t seem explicitly political, even though it has profound political implications.” ‘Trad wife’ is short for ‘Traditional Wife’ and refers to an influencer who creates content related to housework and weaves conservative messages into the content.
Ashton Pittman, news editor for Mississippi Free Press, an online nonprofit based in Jackson, Mississippi, said the changes could also negatively impact his publication. Pittman said he relies on social media recommendations to grow the outlet's readership. “Lack of access to local news undermines our democracy,” he said. “If a social media company hides its location, [political] “If you spread the word, you will be less informed and the situation where you live will become worse.”
Professional Instagram accounts that have recently posted political content can check their account status for eligibility, Mehta said. Here you can edit or remove recent political posts or appeal the company's decision to restrict your account and content from recommendations.
On Friday, Mosseri said that when limiting content, “we're not talking about all news, we're focusing more on political news or social commentary.”
“What’s scary is what’s political.” Edwards said. “Bud Light wasn’t political until then. Green M&Ms weren’t political until Tucker Carlson made them political.”
“If I post about LGBTQ rights or gay men, is that political?” asked Mississippi editor Pittman. “If I post about Taylor Swift, is that political because bad actors are making everything political? If we're honest with ourselves, everything is political. It’s about who defines what is political, who can define it, and what it means.”