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If you opened Instagram last week, you may have seen one of many tutorials on how to opt out of a setting that was quietly released in February: Instagram and Threads users will no longer be recommended political content from people they dont follow.

Instagram wont proactively recommend content about politics, according to a blog post it issued Feb. 9. While the policy was launched without making headlines, it spiked attention last week as Instagram users took to the platform to raise awareness about the change.

What counts as politics? The companys announcement defined political content as potentially related to things like laws, elections, or social topics, and Instagrams help page adds content about governments to the list. But the most comprehensive definition is displayed where users can go to turn off the limits on political content: Political content is likely to mention governments, elections, or social topics that affect a group of people and/or society at large.

While not every Instagram user will be able to review whether their content is considered politicaland therefore no longer eligible for recommendationprofessional users such as creators or businesses have the power to check. (If you can see Instagrams Insights analytics for your account, you have a professional account.)

On a desktop or mobile browser: You can go to Account Status directly.

On your Account Status page, you can check whether Instagram will no longer recommend something youve posted (such as content deemed political), by clicking through What cant be recommended.

This is what Account Status looked like on The Markups account today. So far, none of our recent posts have been flagged as political:

The Markups account status on March 25, 2024.

Credit: The Markup

While all users have an Account Status page, only professional accounts have the What cant be recommended and Monetization status checks.

Help us figure out exactly what Instagram counts as political content. If, after checking the Account Status of your professional account, you see that one or more of your posts have been flagged as political, take a screenshot and send it to The Markup. You can DM us on Instagram directly @the.markup, or email it to us at maria@themarkup.org.

A Markup investigation published in February found that Instagram demoted nongraphic photos of soldiers, destroyed buildings, and military tanks from on the ground in Gaza. If you think youve been shadowbanned on Instagramor if the app has notified you that it has removed your content or limited your account in some wayheres what you can do.

Excerpt from:
Instagram Creators: Check If Your Posts Are Political The Markup - The Markup