California: Continuing its commitment to enhancing user experience, Meta, the parent company of Instagram, has announced significant tweaks aimed at political content recommendations across its platforms. In a recent update, the social media giant revealed that it will refrain from “proactively recommending” political content to users who do not follow such accounts on Instagram and Threads. However, users will retain control over viewing such content, ensuring a personalized experience.
These adjustments primarily affect public accounts where Meta recommends content, including Explore, Reels, In-Feed Recommendations, and Suggested Users. It’s important to note that these changes do not alter the content policy regarding how content is suggested for accounts that users actively follow. Political content related to “laws, elections, or social topics” may still appear in users’ Feeds and Stories.
For Professional accounts on Instagram, there’s an option to check their eligibility for recommendations under the ‘Account Status’ setting. Here, users can manage their posts, request reviews of Meta’s decisions, or temporarily cease posting similar content to regain eligibility.
Meta emphasizes that users who wish to continue seeing political content can manage their preferences through the ‘Suggested Content’ tab. According to Meta, this feature will also extend to Facebook in the future, although the timeline for its implementation remains unspecified.
Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, elaborated on the update through the text-based app Threads, stating, “If you follow political accounts on Threads or Instagram, we want to avoid getting between you and their content. That said, we also don’t want to proactively amplify political content from accounts you don’t follow.” Mosseri further explained that over the coming weeks, Meta will refine its methods to minimize recommendations of political content. Users who desire political recommendations will have the option to opt into receiving them.
These changes will be gradually rolled out to users, reflecting Meta’s ongoing efforts to tailor content recommendations to individual preferences while fostering a balanced and informed online environment.
