Instagram vetoes political content to avoid being part of disputes on this issue, ahead of the presidential elections on November 5 in the United States. This decision will also affect Threads, the social network that focuses on real-time communication, also owned by Meta.
Meta has been involved in previous situations regarding political issues on their platforms and this time they want to avoid incurring similar problems. Especially since one of the protagonists of the presidential elections in the United States will be the former president Donald Trump. Let's see more about this topic and how it will affect users.
What is the political veto of Instagram?
instagram and Threads, as part of the Meta social media ecosystem, will veto political content on its platforms. This has been made known through a statement on his blog where he details the conditions, reasons and ways of not seeing this type of topics in user accounts.
To this end, the social network has clarified that, if a user wishes receiving this type of political content can activate it, but the platform indicated that for its part it will not show it or recommend viewing it in explore, reels, feed or as suggested users. This will also apply to Threads, the social network that allows you to communicate with other people in real time, and to Facebook in the coming weeks.
This update will not affect accounts that do not promote political content on these social networks. However, if you use an account to support candidates, promote political parties, or share political news, it is most likely that the contents of said account will not be displayed by the social network naturally. But, they can be seen by users who follow those accounts.
On the other hand, professional accounts on Instagram will be able to verify their eligibility to know if they are recommended or not as political accounts. In the event that any content is banned, they can make corresponding complaints, request a review and appeal. If they really violate these policies, it is best to delete or edit the post.
How will it affect the accounts of politicians and public figures?
Updates to Instagram and Threads usage policies will slightly affect users and viewers, but Will it affect the accounts of politicians and other public figures? The reality is that yes, especially accounts dedicated to promoting political issues.
For example, if you have a account of a political party and the algorithm detects it, it is very likely that your posts are not recommended. Additionally, if a user decides to block all political content activity in their feed, your posts will be less visible, even if they follow you.
Users will be able to choose whether or not they want to see political content in your feeds, explore stories or reels. Everything will be done through a control panel and settings where you can request that all political content be banned from your recommendations. However, you can tell the social network otherwise and ask it to show it to you.
Instagram wants to avoid disputes between political activist groups who raise their temperatures to uncontrollable levels on social networks. In addition, they want to avoid being involved in controversies such as in the last elections where Donald Trump was accused of cheating using social networks as a mechanism to harass voters. What do you think of this measure by Instagram and Threads to ban political content from their platforms?