Instagram users might notice even less political content in their feeds these days, although this time it has nothing to do with Meta’s Canadian news block.
Instagram has started an automatic clampdown on the amount of political content — which it defines as posts about laws, elections or social topics — appearing in its users’ feeds from accounts people don’t already follow.
According to tech reporting site Ars Technica, Instagram didn’t appear to notify its users directly that the previously announced change had taken place.
There is a relatively quick and easy way to turn off the controls, but the change comes during a year of crucial elections in the U.S. and other countries, and also follows Meta’s ban on Canadian news for all Canadian users in response to Bill C-18.
Many outraged users are complaining about censorship and a limit on political discourse, with some worried Instagram’s definition of political content is so broad that “even posts that aren’t ‘political’ could be brushed under the rug.”
Meta/Instagram limited my ability to view “political content.” Defined to include content re: “government, elections, or social topics that affect people or society.” My “default” setting was to censor. This is not okay. <a href=”https://t.co/mSk95ySq0F”>pic.twitter.com/mSk95ySq0F</a>
“Instagram quietly introducing a ‘political’ content preference and turning on ‘limit’ by default is insane,” one user wrote on the social media platform X.
“My ‘default’ setting was to censor. This is not okay,” a civil rights attorney posted.
As part of an initiative Instagram announced last month, the popular social media service owned by Meta Platforms has stopped “proactively” recommending political content posted on accounts that users don’t choose to follow.
To do that, Instagram has automatically set the “political content” control to “limit” on user accounts.
The limits also affect users with Threads accounts tied to their Instagram accounts, and will roll out on Facebook “at a later date,” the company announced.
“If you decide to follow accounts that post political content, we don’t want to get between you and their posts, but we also don’t want to proactively recommend political content from accounts you don’t follow,” the announcement notes.
Where people get their news
But that’s the very problem, Keith Edwards, a Democratic political strategist and content creator, told the Washington Post last month.
“The whole value-add for social media, for political people, is that you can reach normal people who might not otherwise hear a message that they need to hear, like, abortion is on the ballot in Florida, or voting is happening today,” Edwards said.
“There’s TV ads, but who watches TV anymore? Most people are on their phones, and Meta apps are where most people hang out.”
WATCH | Bill C-18, explained:
Big Tech vs. Canadian news: the battle over C-18, explained | About That
9 months ago
Duration 10:43
The federal government has suspended all of its advertising on Facebook and Instagram as the clash with tech giants like Meta and Google over Bill C-18, the Online News Act, continues. Andrew Chang explores what the bill means for how you get your news online.
A 2023 report from the Pew Research Center found that half of the 8,842 U.S. adults polled get their news “at least sometimes” from social media. Facebook, YouTube and Instagram were the top platforms people said they used for reading the news.
Social media is the most common news source among Canadians aged 15 to 24, with 62 per cent saying they get their information this way, Statistics Canada said in a report last month.
Twenty-four million Canadians use Facebook and Instagram. As of August last year, in response to Canada’s Online News Act, news links and content posted on Meta by news publishers and broadcasters in Canada are no longer viewable by people in Canada.
How to get around the political content block
Here’s how to avoid Instagram’s political curbs in just a few steps:
To open up the political spigot again on Instagram, open the app on your smartphone. Then tap the three-dash menu at the top right.
Navigate to “Settings and Privacy,” then choose “Content Preferences,” then open the “Political Content” menu.
Find and turn on the “Don’t Limit” option.
Once that is done, you should once again start to see posts relating to government, elections and other political matters shared from accounts that you don’t follow flowing through your feed.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
