Accountable Tech released a new report today that assessed the impact of Meta’s political content limit setting that the company announced in February. Researchers found that the implementation of this policy caused a 65% decrease in reach for the average piece of content posted from the prominent Instagram accounts studied.

Specific findings include:

• Meta’s decision to limit the reach of “political” content on Instagram has yielded an average 65% drop in the reach of several prominent accounts that regularly posted credible political content over a three month period from March 8 to May 24, 2024.
• With little to no transparency and accountability in changing algorithms and settings, Meta is deprioritizing credible political content for Instagram users, creators, and organizations with profound implications for the reach of content focused on political education, activism, and mobilization in a U.S. election year.

“Amidst several elections worldwide, this new default setting compromises the way we share and receive thoughtful and accurate information, which has ripple effects on democratic processes, social justice, and human rights,” said Nicole Gill, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Accountable Tech. “Beyond its broad effect on society and democracy, it demonstrates Meta’s unchecked power over their millions of users and how quickly they can disrupt the lives of creators and the millions of brands and campaigns that invest in creators to tell their story or sell a product.”

“It is extremely concerning that Meta is characterizing ‘social topics that affect a group of people and/or society large’ as ‘political content’ — and then reducing the algorithmic reach of such content in this systematic way,” said a spokesperson for GLAAD. “These findings reveal how extraordinarily problematic this is and show the outsized power that Meta has over what we see online. Meta should stop this practice now, so that platform users can continue to engage with the most important issues facing society and politics today.”

“In a critical election year that will decide the future of our democracy and the progress of LGBTQ+ equality, Meta’s decision to limit what they’ve deemed ‘political’ content is extremely concerning,” said Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign. “In attempting to curb negative, misleading political information, this broad-brush decision limits all political information, curbing the reach of accounts that engage in political expression. What we don’t need right now are more barriers to creating understanding and visibility for historically marginalized groups like the LGBTQ+ community. Social media users deserve to know how and why they receive certain information — and platforms should not be deprioritizing credible voices who educate and engage voters.”

“Meta’s recent move to limit political content in its algorithms directly impacts our right to accurate information that ultimately affects our health,” said Ky Polanco, Co-Founder & Co-Executive Director FEMINIST. “This form of tech censorship directly impedes our access to crucial healthcare information, silencing voices at the forefront of the intersectional feminist movement and undermining civic engagement, reproductive health, and social justice.”

For full results and methodology, please see here.