The recent change affects all Instagram users, even those who had previously turned off the setting. CNN will host the first presidential debate on Thursday, June 27, in Atlanta, Georgia, with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderating.
According to The Hill, many Instagram users noticed that their settings had been adjusted to limit political content, a feature introduced by Meta in February, just before the first 2024 debate between President Biden and former President Trump.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone responded to a post from Democratic strategist Keith Edwards on Threads, another Meta app, stating that the resetting of users’ political content limits was an error and should not have occurred. Meta is currently addressing the issue.
On February 9, Meta announced that Instagram and Threads would start restricting political content, but did not mention changing all users’ settings to a default limit on politics.
In March, Instagram modified its algorithm to limit political content by default, but this applied only to posts from users you do not follow. To continue seeing political content, you need to adjust your settings manually by navigating to “content preferences,” selecting “political content,” and choosing “don’t limit.”
The second debate is scheduled for September and will be hosted by ABC News, which has yet to announce the moderators.
