Meta to not recommend political content on Instagram and Threads (NASDAQ:META)
Justin Sullivan
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) will not proactively recommend political content from accounts users don’t follow on Instagram and Threads, the company said in a blog post.
Under its policies, the company will not recommend content about politics on recommendation surfaces across Instagram and Threads. Users will be able to control if they still want these posts to be recommended to them.
Meta added that the recommendation updates apply to public accounts and in places where it recommends content such as Explore, Reels, In-Feed Recommendations and Suggested Users. The updates will not change how Meta shows people content from accounts they choose to follow.
In recent years, the Facebook-parent has made efforts to distance itself from news and politics, choosing instead to focus on viral entertainment content. Instagram boss Adam Mosseri has publicly stated that Threads will not “encourage” politics and hard news.
“Any incremental engagement or revenue they might drive is not at all worth the scrutiny, negativity (let’s be honest), or integrity risks that come along with them,” Mosseri wrote.
Meta launched Threads, its take on X, in July 2023. According to chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, Threads has more than 130 million monthly active users.
The company said it will roll out the changes slowly over time “to get this right.”
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