Meta is making an important change to Instagram and Threads’
policy – limiting recommendation of content related to politics and social
issues from accounts that a user does not follow, across the platforms. Meta plans
to bring this update to Facebook some time later, too.
The changes will be implemented only in places where recommendations
are displayed to users, like Explore, Reels, in-feed recommendations, and
suggested users. No changes will be made to the way content is displayed from accounts
that a user follows. This means that accounts that aren’t eligible to be
recommended could still post political content that their followers will be
able to view in feed and Stories.
While users will be seeing less of political content by default, they would still be allowed to opt into seeing more of such content if they wish to. The option will be available in account settings, specifying content that is “likely to mention governments, elections, or social topics that affect a group of people and/or society at large.”
Once Meta begins to roll out the update, professional
accounts on Instagram will be able to check the impact of posting political
content on their eligibility for recommendation, from their Account Status. The
Account Status section will also provide suggestions to professional accounts
in case their eligibility is impacted, like editing, removing, or pausing
politically related posts until the account is eligible to be recommended
again.
