Meta recently experienced an error that impacted its political content filter on Threads and Instagram. The key issue was that Instagram’s setting for limiting political content was resetting every time the app was closed, even for users who had opted to see such content.
Earlier this year, Meta decided to limit political content in Threads and Instagram by default, aiming to avoid proactively amplifying political posts. Users could opt-in to see political content through their Instagram settings. However, an error caused the “political content” toggle to revert to the default limit setting each time the app closed. Political content, as defined by Meta, includes mentions of governments, elections, or social topics affecting society.
The duration of this issue remains unclear. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone acknowledged the error on Threads, stating, “This was an error and should not have happened. We’re working on getting it fixed.” Meta did not specify how long the setting had been malfunctioning.
This issue is likely to prompt further scrutiny of Meta’s approach to political content. Despite being likened to X, Threads has adopted a stringent content moderation policy, limiting the visibility of political content and blocking potentially sensitive topics, including COVID-19-related content, from search results.
Stone later confirmed the bug had been resolved, writing on Threads, “Earlier today, we identified an error in which people’s selections in the Instagram political content settings tool mistakenly appeared to have reset even though no change had actually been made. The issue has now been fixed and we encourage people to check and make sure their settings reflect their preferences.”
Featured Image courtesy of Anadolu Agency via Getty Images