In a significant shift, Instagram and its messaging app Threads will now promote political content in their default settings, reversing a previous stance aimed at reducing political noise on the platforms. According to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri, the change is part of Meta's "More Speech and Fewer Mistakes" moderation overhaul, which seeks to increase the visibility of political content from accounts users don't follow.

The move marks a sharp departure from Mosseri's previous statements in 2023, where he emphasized the goal of creating a "less angry place for conversations" that wouldn't encourage politics or hard news. However, with Meta's new approach to moderation and updated rules on what users can say on its platforms, that goal appears to be taking a backseat.

Until now, users had to opt-in to see recommendations of content deemed political. However, the change rolling out this week in the US and next week globally will turn on the recommendations and introduce a content control setting with options for less, standard (the default setting), and more. This means users will start seeing more political content from accounts they don't follow, unless they manually adjust their settings.

Mosseri defended the move, citing the impracticality of drawing a clear line around what constitutes political content. In a series of Threads posts, he reiterated that it's not Meta's place to decide what political content users should see, and that the push for more political content is a response to changing user feedback. According to Mosseri, users are now more open to seeing political content, particularly from users on Threads.

The shift in policy has sparked speculation about the influence of Mark Zuckerberg's personal experiences and the appointment of a new, more Trump-friendly policy chief at Meta. The Wall Street Journal reported that Zuckerberg's own experience with filters reducing the reach of his post about recovering from a torn ACL may have contributed to the change in stance.

The implications of this change are far-reaching, with potential consequences for the online political discourse and the role of social media platforms in shaping public opinion. As the Trump administration prepares to take over, the decision to promote political content on Instagram and Threads raises questions about the responsibility of tech companies in moderating online speech.

Ultimately, the move highlights the ongoing struggle of tech companies to balance free speech with the need to regulate harmful or divisive content. As the online landscape continues to evolve, it remains to be seen how this change will impact the way users interact with political content on Instagram and Threads.