In a surprising turn of events, Meta Platforms Inc‘s META Instagram and Threads users have discovered an unexpected alteration to their political content settings, sparking a wave of discontent and concern among users and industry experts alike.

According to The Verge, many users, prompted by Democratic strategist Keith Edwards‘ recent urging on Threads, checked their Instagram settings only to find that the option limiting political content from people they don't follow had been abruptly changed.

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Meta swiftly addressed the situation. “This was an error and should not have happened,” stated Andy Stone, Meta’s communications director, in a Threads post. “We're working on getting it fixed.”

A Misstep In User Experience

In March, Meta introduced an opt-out setting aimed at limiting recommendations of political content on Instagram and Threads.

The intent was not to restrict political content from reaching users but to provide an option for those uninterested in such posts.

"Our goal is to preserve the ability for people to choose to interact with political content, while respecting each person's appetite for it," explained Instagram head Adam Mosseri in a Threads post announcing the change.

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The rollout of this setting was not without controversy. By default, the opt-out setting was activated, and Instagram did not notify users in-app about this change.

This lack of transparency has raised eyebrows among users and experts concerned about the implications for content visibility and user control.

The Glitch And Its Impact

The recent discovery of the setting resetting upon app closure has further complicated matters. Users attempting to regain control over their content preferences found themselves repeatedly reverting to the default opt-out setting.

This glitch has fueled frustration and skepticism about Meta’s handling of user preferences.

A support page on Instagram outlines how the setting is intended to work. Users can find the option under their profile menu for content preferences, where they can choose to turn off the limit on political content and confirm their choice.

Despite following these steps, many users experienced the setting resetting, indicating a significant malfunction in the system.

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