As the election cycle heats up, Instagram and Threads will be reducing the amount of political content in users’ feeds. These changes limit the visibility of political content from accounts users don’t follow by default. If you’re interested in seeing more political content on your feed, check out our guide on adjusting Instagram’s political settings here.
Meta is working to decrease the spread of news and political content on its platforms, especially content that is algorithmically recommended rather than directly shared by individuals or accounts. Threads will host news content but will not actively promote it, according to comments from Adam Mosseri, the head of Threads. Facebook is also shutting down the News Tab and blocking news content in Canada due to a dispute over legislation requiring platforms to pay publishers for content.
Instagram defines political content broadly as anything related to laws, elections, or social issues. The reasons for these changes and what they indicate about Meta’s priorities in its social media empire are explored in today’s episode below.
