In 2023, Mr Mosseri said Threads and Instagram should focus on “amazing communities” such as “sports, music and fashion.”
“Any incremental engagement or revenue they might drive is not at all worth the scrutiny, negativity (let’s be honest), or integrity risks that come along with them,” he wrote in a Threads post at the time, external.
But in a fresh post on the platform he has now explained why, external that stance was being abandoned, saying it had “proven impractical to draw a red line around what is and is not political content” – and users have asked to be shown more, not less, of it.
Mr Mosseri said Instagram – which Meta acquired for $1bn in 2012 – was founded upon the values of creativity and “giving anybody a voice”.
“My hope is that this focus on free speech is going to help us do even a bit better along that path,” he said in an Instagram video., external
There has been considerable criticism of the changes Meta has already announced, with concerns expressed about the impact on minority groups.
Some users have also reacted to these latest changes on Threads and Instagram with dismay.
“Well, time to delete the Threads app. It was nice while it lasted,” said one Threads user responding to Mr Mosseri’s posts.
On Instagram – where Mr Mosseri said accounts focused on politics now “don’t have to worry about becoming non-recommendable” to other users – some users praised the move as “a good step towards the freedom on the platform”.
Many have also, however, expressed concern about the effect that increasing content recommendations about social issues and politics could have on amplifying misinformation and hate speech.
Brooke Erin Duffy, an associate professor in communication at Cornell University, said there would be “winners and losers” of Meta’s content moderation changes.
“Marginalised creators, including women, people of colour, and the LGBTQ+ community are likely to face increased harms with fewer mechanisms of recourse,” she told BBC News.
“At the same time, we may see a rise in content created by far-right or ideologically extreme influencers given the relaxed policies on hate speech.”
