Instagram blocks political content: why, how it works, and what to know

In view of the upcoming ones European elections (8-9 June 2024) and upcoming ones US presidential elections (November 5, 2024), Meta has decided to limit “political” posts on its main social platforms. In particular on Instagram e Threads.

“If you decide to follow accounts that post political content, we don’t want to come between you and their posts – Meta wrote in an official note last February – but we also don’t want to proactively recommend political content from accounts you don’t follow.”

For this reason anyone wants to see on Instagram “political” posts recommended by the Meta algorithmas with any other type of content, from food to sport, must act autonomously on the social settings.

And therefore, after reaching the page that collects account information, you need to click on the three horizontal lines – at the top right – and then scroll down to the item “Suggested contents”. At this point simply click on “political content” and move the blue dot to the item “Don’t limit political content from people you don’t follow”. This action also has an immediate effect on the political content proposed to users by the Threads social network.

Meta’s decision to limit – by default – Instagram users’ exposure to political content has been criticized by many users of the platform.

“This change has no impact on which account posts people choose to follow. It impacts what the algorithm recommends. If they want more, users can always choose,” he said Dani Laverthe spokesperson for Meta.

Meta claims that this limitation is the result of “years of work” on how political issues are treated and managed on its social platforms. And it is also the result “of the preferences expressed by users” on this topic.

The doubt remains as to vague definition of a political content according to Meta, who talks about texts or images “potentially linked to topics such as law, elections or social issues”.