INSTAGRAM’S NEW UPDATE LIMITS POLITICAL CONTENT YOU SEE
March 27, 2024An Instagram update automatically limiting the amount of political content that shows up in users’ feeds has sparked a wave of discontent from social media users and activists, including pro-Palestine activists who accuse the platform of censorship.
A setting for “political content” was added to the app, apparently without notifying users of the change. The setting is toggled to “limit” by default, though users can manually change this to “don’t limit”.
The change affects posts “likely to mention governments, elections, or social topics that affect a large group of people and/or society at large,” according to a guidance note.
Users accusing Instagram of active censorship expressed outrage, with many surprised after noticing the newly imposed limitations on their feed.
One user stated: “They want us to post and engage with images of mountains, holidays, beautiful portraits, flowers and all. They think we have too much of Palestine, Congo, migrants, sovereignty, indigenous movement, environmental justice and racism related content going around.”
Since the start of Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip, social media posts by Palestinian journalists and citizens on the ground have become key sources of information, as the Israeli government has banned international media from entering the strip.
In December, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report that Meta, which runs Instagram and Facebook, is systematically censoring content about Palestine.
“Our goal is to preserve the ability for people to choose to interact with political content, while respecting each person’s appetite for it,” Instagram chief Adam Mosseri wrote in February.
Yet many social media users accused Instagram of “shadowbanning,” and limiting political discourse in a year when pivotal elections are being held in the US and other countries, impacting political outreach attempting to inform voters.
One user questioned: “Are Palestinians political? Who makes these decisions? Who benefits and who faces the consequences?
“During an election year, during a humanitarian crisis, during a censorship crisis…weird!”
@middleeasteye
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