If you haven’t seen a lot of political content on Instagram lately, there’s a reason why. Since March, Instagram and Threads have introduced a new default setting that limits political content you see from people you don’t follow.
Hundreds of creators convened by GLAAD and Accountable Tech have signed an open letter demanding that Instagram make restricting political content an opt-in feature rather than enabled by default.
“Because many of us on Instagram provide authoritative and factual content that helps people understand current events, civic engagement and voter participation, Instagram thereby limits our ability to reach people online at a critical transition for a more inclusive and participatory democracy and society.” Point for our country,” the letter says.
Signatories to the letter include comedian Alok Vaid-Menon (1.3 million followers), Glee actor Kevin McHale (1.1 million), news contributor So Informed (3.1 million), activist Carlos Eduardo Espina ( 664,000), Under The Desk News (397,000) and other meme accounts, political organizers and entertainers.
Instagram’s definition of political content leaves a lot of room for interpretation, which raises further concerns among these creators. It describes political content as anything “that potentially has to do with things like laws, elections or social issues.”
The letter notes that this “threatens the reach of marginalized people speaking about their own experiences on Meta’s platforms” and limits discussion of issues such as climate change, gun control and reproductive rights.
These restrictions can also affect the existence of political decision-makers, as it becomes more difficult to reach new target groups. While Instagram itself isn’t particularly lucrative (there is no regular revenue share with creators), building a following on the platform can lead to other financial opportunities, such as brand sponsorships.
As election season approaches in the US, Instagram’s decision to distance itself from politics might seem like a way to limit the damage – Meta is having a less than stellar performance track record when it comes to his role in elections. But Meta could cause even more problems by locking its users in political echo chambers where they never receive information from people outside their existing circles.
“The removal of policy recommendations as the default setting and the associated blocking of suggested policy content from people poses a serious threat to political engagement, education and activism,” the letter said.