[HN Gopher] Instagram and Threads will no longer recommend polit...
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Instagram and Threads will no longer recommend political content
Author : giuliomagnifico
Score : 24 points
Date : 2024-02-09 19:16 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.engadget.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.engadget.com)
| clay_the_ripper wrote:
| Wow, this is kind of the beginning of the end of these platforms
| having essentially unlimited immunity from the content they host.
|
| I am of two minds on this - on one hand, do we really want Meta,
| a knowing producer of wildly attention-addictive products, to be
| the ones directing public discourse? No. Of course we don't.
|
| On the other hand, it's clear Meta and the rest of the platforms
| are legitimately scared, and are going to wind down anything even
| slightly problematic, which is a bummer for the free web.
|
| On balance this is probably a net positive for society as a
| whole, so I'm supportive of this change.
| singleshot_ wrote:
| How do you figure this is the beginning of the end? Haven't
| these platforms been making editorial decisions to shape their
| coherent speech product more or less since Stratton Oakmont?
| jowea wrote:
| I'm not sure I want Meta (or anyone) directing public discourse
| away from politics and controversial topics either.
| thegrim22 wrote:
| Where any political content that aligns with the platform's
| ideology is considered "the truth", not politics, and will be
| allowed to be spread, whereas any political content that does not
| align will be deplatformed.
| clay_the_ripper wrote:
| Actually it kinda seems like they are just going to blanket ban
| everything political, regardless. They have said publicly they
| do not want to be the arbiter of truth - so this is them trying
| to remove themselves entirely from that role.
| voltaireodactyl wrote:
| Have they posted their definition of political?
| lizardking wrote:
| You can't even discuss pop music or sports without it being
| deemed as political by a loud segment of the internet. Who
| gets to decide what is and what is not "political"?
| singleshot_ wrote:
| The owners of the platforms that you use to distribute your
| speech (assuming it does not conflict with the platform's
| commercial goals).
| ActorNightly wrote:
| I am fine with this.
|
| Most "political" content on these platforms is actually
| ideological content, which is worthless.
|
| The difference between the two is that political content is
| things that mostly facts about the political processes, and
| pretty much non existant on any social media. Whereas the
| ideological content that is prevalent on social media is the
| narrative pushing, virtue signaling opinions of people that dgaf
| about truth.
| EA-3167 wrote:
| I'm not going to say that anyone reacted to the headline rather
| than the body of the article, I'm just going to leave a few
| quotes here that might help _if_ that 's what happened.
|
| > Meta will no longer recommend political content to users on
| Instagram or Threads, according to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri.
| He said that users will still see political content from accounts
| they follow, but the apps will no longer "proactively amplify"
| such posts.
|
| So it's giving people an option, and even better, an opt-in
| option. That seems like the furthest thing from controversy to
| me.
|
| For people asking what their definition of political is:
|
| > Mosseri didn't elaborate on how Meta will determine what counts
| as "political," but a Meta spokesperson said it would include
| election-related topics and social issues.
|
| > "Our definition of political content is content likely to be
| about topics related to government or elections; for example,
| posts about laws, elections, or social topics," the spokesperson
| said. "These global issues are complex and dynamic, which means
| this definition will evolve as we continue to engage with the
| people and communities who use our platforms and external experts
| to refine our approach."
|
| And for the people who might be wondering if this will apply to
| accounts they already follow...
|
| > While Meta will limit its suggestions related to these topics
| by default, those who do want to see such content will be able to
| opt-in via Instagram and Threads' settings. The company said the
| update won't affect how people see posts from accounts they've
| chosen to follow. "Our goal is to preserve the ability for people
| to choose to interact with political content, while respecting
| each person's appetite for it," Mosseri said.
| jacooper wrote:
| Watch them categorize removing fuel car bans as political while
| not marking climate change polices as such.
|
| These measures are meaningless because defining what's
| political can really be a way to just shut the opposition down,
| no matter which side you are on.
| mlboss wrote:
| Thank God Elon bought twitter!
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