Meta recently launched Threads, their answer to Twitter, in an effort to create digital town squares. However, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri has clarified that the social network will not prioritize politics and hard news. This is a departure from Meta’s previous stance, as Twitter has embraced political discussions and encourages them.
Mosseri explained on Threads, “Our goal is not to replace Twitter. We want to provide a public square for Instagram communities that have not fully embraced Twitter, as well as for Twitter and other platform users who seek a less contentious space for conversations, without abandoning Twitter altogether.”
Mosseri acknowledged that politics and hard news will inevitably appear on the platform, but Instagram will not actively promote those topics. When a user pointed out that downranking such content would contradict the goal of creating a “public square,” Mosseri responded, “We won’t discourage or down-rank news or politics, but we won’t actively promote them as we have in the past.”
Mosseri emphasized that Instagram does not want to repeat Facebook’s past mistakes of overpromising to the media industry. He stated, “While politics and hard news are important, the potential increase in engagement or revenue they may bring is not worth the scrutiny, negativity, and integrity risks they entail from a platform’s perspective.”
He added, “There are already plenty of amazing communities on Instagram, such as sports, music, fashion, beauty, and entertainment, that make the platform vibrant without the need for politics or hard news.”
Meta claims that Threads has already attracted over 70 million users. Signing up is simple, as it only requires an Instagram account, and users are automatically registered for the new platform.
