Instagram: A Break From Politics

Election season is already heating up as presidential hopefuls move through the various state primaries and caucuses. More than likely, your social media feeds and television commercial breaks are already full of political ads. Politics can be divisive and exhausting. Instagram is stepping up to the plate for those of us looking to escape the attack ads and political messaging. The social media platform has announced that "it will no longer 'proactively recommend' political content from accounts that users do not already follow." In theory, this means that users will no longer be bombarded with political content outside of what they already engage with. This policy will be extended to Threads and Facebook as Meta continues to shift away from prioritizing political content in its algorithms. While this policy will be the new default setting, there will be an option to opt in for political content recommendations. When announcing the new policy, the head of Instagram made it clear that the platform intended "to preserve the ability for people to choose to interact with political content, while respecting each person’s appetite for it." The ability to choose whether or not to participate in these changes is likely an attempt to avoid claims of bias, censorship, or that the platform is limiting users' freedom of expression.

I applaud Instagram, and Meta, for implementing this policy. While I will always encourage people to be politically knowledgeable and to vote, none of us want to be force-fed politics. This policy puts control back into the user's hands to decide what type of content is populating their feeds. I for one use social media to communicate, to be entertained, and to relax. It is not the place where I go to watch political ads or do candidate research. If users want to opt into political content recommendations, they have the ability to customize their experience on the platform. I find it very unlikely that I will choose to opt into this content recommendation. I have faith in my ability to be politically aware without politics being featured on my social media. 

We are in an era marked by heightened political polarization and the influence of social media. Social media has become a hub of political misinformation and a conspiracy echo chamber. By altering algorithms to deprioritize politically charged content, Instagram has the potential to create a more neutral and enjoyable environment for users. There is a potential downside to this new policy. If users are only shown political content they follow or have aligned themselves with, they will have limited exposure to diverse perspectives. This could exacerbate the misinformation crisis and increase polarization. This may mean that Meta may have to update or improve its fact-checking measures to ensure the accuracy of political information circulating on the platform. When it comes to trying to strike a balance between freedom of expression and content moderation in a fast-paced environment of misinformation, there is only so much social media platforms can do. While I do feel that social media platforms have a responsibility to intervene in instances of misuse on their platform, I know that there are limitations to what they can do. Policies like these make me hopeful that social media can be less politically volatile. 

Source: Variety. “Instagram Will Stop Recommending Political Content.” NBCNews.Com, NBCUniversal News Group, 9 Feb. 2024, www.nbcnews.com/tech/instagram-will-stop-recommending-political-content-rcna138178.