Meta's Plan to Influence 2024 Elections Through Instagram Revealed

Meta Platforms CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly planning to influence the 2024 elections using Instagram. According to the National Pulse, Zuckerberg aims to achieve this through Instagram's "limit political content" function. Before the first presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden, Instagram automatically reduced users' exposure to "political content."

FWIW News reported that just one day before the 2024 general election presidential debate, Meta changed users' settings to automatically limit the amount of political content on Instagram. Now, Instagram has gone further by changing all users' settings to automatically restrict political content every time they exit the app.

According to the Pulse, Instagram recently required users to go to their settings and "opt-in" to political content from accounts they do not follow. The platform defined "political content" as anything likely to mention governments, elections, or social topics affecting society. Many political creators criticized the move and encouraged followers to update their settings and opt-in.

Now, Instagram reverts to the default opt-out for political content whenever users exit the app, forcing them to opt back in through a complex series of menus. FWIW News noted that this update appears to have happened within the past 48 hours, first brought to attention by large political accounts on June 25.

A Meta spokesman called the issue an "error" and reassured users that Instagram is working on fixing it.

Meta's involvement in politics is not new. Zuckerberg and his platforms have been accused of election interference for many years. The Pulse's Jack Montgomery cited Zuckerberg's Center for Tech and Civil Life (CTCL) as a key instrument in this interference. The group allegedly pours vast sums of "Zucker-bucks" into initiatives meant to improve voter access, such as new absentee ballot drop boxes. However, these initiatives reportedly benefit Democratic-leaning areas, granting leftists greater voting access than conservatives.

Montgomery also mentioned how Facebook censored Americans at the Biden administration's direction, particularly on vaccine safety. Given this history, it would not be surprising if Instagram limited users' exposure to political content at the behest of the White House.