Sometimes, you feel your Instagram posts about politics hitting a wall. You’re not alone. Creators like Mrs. Frazzled, who boast hundreds of thousands of followers, notice a disturbing trend: Their reach shrinks as soon as they discuss elections. For Mrs. Frazzled, saying “vote” in a caption led to a dramatic drop in viewership. The behind-the-scenes of Instagram: Why is your political voice suddenly so quiet?
This is the most important takeaway: Instagram, a part of Meta, the group that owns it, is suppressing content about politics. Posts mentioning voting reach far fewer people than those that don’t. Data from various studies and creators shows a dip in engagement when political words like “vote” appear. The meta isn’t denying this; neither is this a glitch or conspiracy theory, but this is happening. However, they have not been specific enough, so users are unaware of it.
Every US election is fraudulent until the electoral college is abolished and replaced with a system that more directly discriminates against liberals – like a ban on voting from an apartment, or an Instagram login that counts your vote as half if you ever posted the black square
— Lukas (computer) (3/AC)🔺 (@SCHIZO_FREQ) September 9, 2024
You are blocked when you type “vote” on Instagram.
Let’s cut to the chase. Also, according to The Washington Post, the platform is having Mrs. Frazzed‘s Instagram account, is having them intentionally downplaying posts that talk about elections, laws, and social topics. Mrs. Frazzled, famous for her funny and lighthearted content, had found that whenever she switched from posts about her volunteer work to posts about candidates, her audience shrunk by as much as 40 percent or more. And when she used the word “vote”? On average, she had her reach fall by 63%. The result: fewer likes, shares, and comments.
It’s not just her. As advocacy groups have been studying, political content appears to have fallen victim to a steep decline in visibility, particularly on Twitter’s political accounts. One report found that Instagram cut the average’ head count’ for five well-known political accounts by 65% over ten weeks. While you can still post about politics, expect your words to fall into what some call a “shadowban,” where your content is technically still there—but barely anyone sees it.
The decision to suppress political content didn’t happen overnight at Meta. The problem stems from a broader policy shift designed by social networking platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and Threads, to diminish the quantity of political discourse on their platforms. In 2021, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would stop shoving political posts into users’ feeds. Fast-forward to 2024, and Instagram used to show fewer political posts, particularly from accounts you don’t already follow.
I def understand muting/blocking the political suggested posts but Instagram arguably has more ads/suggested posts. At least on this app you can choose a timeline of only the people you follow
— Jeremy (@MonaleoHateAcct) October 17, 2024
Users were automatically signed up to receive less political content, but many didn’t even realize it. When your audience numbers began to drop, users discovered the issue without any alerts from Meta.
Yes, but with limits. There is no such ban on political content on Instagram—you can still post about voting, elections, and social issues, but it will do much less to reach a new audience. Meta argues that it’s giving users what they want: less politics in their feeds. That’s a tough pill for creators to swallow if they want to use their platforms to advocate for an important cause or to lobby for people to vote.
For example, while mega-celebrities like Taylor Swift can reach millions with political endorsements, smaller creators and average users fall into an echo chamber. Not only are their posts no longer recommended in Instagram’s Explore tab, but they’re also no longer shown to new followers. You will not go far if you’re not following them in the short term.
What can you do to change it?
Unfortunately, there are few options. But the company has not transparently taken what it means by that – Meta’s automated systems make the call on what content is downplayed. Meta hasn’t said whether it will answer even when you ask them directly. The company has only said that content related to “laws, elections, or social topics” may be affected. But like all algorithms, they’ve stubbornly declined to divulge a list of keywords or explain how it finds and ranks political content.
Creators like Mrs. Frazzled have joined advocacy groups calling for more transparency, demanding that Meta reveal how its algorithms work and what topics are considered “too political.” Up to now, Meta has been completely silent. You’re certainly not the only one if you’re at all frustrated with how Instagram handles political content. Mrs. Frazzled’s tale is just one instance of countless creators who feel powerless and confused about what’s likely to prompt a tumble in engagement. Meta’s shadowbanning is a subtle but point-blank killing of conversations.
If you still want to share political content, for now, the smartest bet might be to just keep getting it in front of your existing followers and not focus on going viral. Plus, you can change your account settings so you’re still seeing everything—even the political stuff. In the bigger picture, however, Instagram users have few alternatives. Thus, will we stop talking about politics? Probably not. Indeed, as Meta gains greater control over what we can see and say, it may become increasingly difficult to hear political voices on Instagram.
Image credits: Furkan Demirkaya/Ideogram
