Meta platform Instagram has said it will no longer actively suggest political content from accounts users don't follow.
The approach extends to Threads, an app introduced last summer as part of the Instagram family.
The decision comes ahead of major elections in several countries, including the US and India, the two of the biggest democracies in the world.
Meta in s blog said that it is broadening a current Reels policy, which already restricts political content from unfamiliar accounts, including posts about social matters, from showing up in recommended feeds.
Instagram wrote in a blog post, "We want Instagram and Threads to be a great experience for everyone. If you decide to follow accounts that post political content, we don’t want to get between you and their posts, but we also don’t want to proactively recommend political content from accounts you don’t follow."
The policy changes affect public accounts and areas where they suggest content, like Explore, Reels, In-Feed Recommendations, and Suggested Users. It doesn't alter the displayed content from accounts users have chosen to follow.
However, if a public account posts political content—like discussions on laws, elections, or social issues- and it's not eligible for recommendations, that content can still reach its followers through Feed and Stories.
Professional accounts on Instagram will be able to use Account Status to check their eligibility to be recommended based on whether they recently posted political content. From Account Status, they can edit or remove recent posts, request a review if they disagree.
If people still want to see this type of political content on Threads and Instagram recommendation surfaces, there will be a control for people to choose to see it. This control will also roll out on Facebook at a later date.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri wrote on Threads, "Our goal is to preserve the ability for people to choose to interact with political content, while respecting each person’s appetite for it."
Instagram said it is working to improve its recommendation systems and give people control to connect people with the most relevant posts. "We’ll roll out these changes slowly over time to get this right."
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