Government and creators slam Meta’s political posts move amid disengagement fears

Tech giant Meta will ‘turn the tap off’ on political content across its Instagram and Threads platforms, threatening to leave some Australians uninformed, the government has warned.

Meta, the tech giant owned by Mark Zuckerberg and behind Instagram, has revised the political content filtering on a number of its platforms. Picture: Nicholas Eagar

Tech giant Meta is “turning the tap off” on some political content across its Instagram and Threads platforms, threatening to leave ­affected Australians uninformed, the government has warned.

The change, where both platforms let users decide what political content they are recommended to see but at the risk of blocking valuable information, went through with little fanfare and many users not realising the ramifications.

“It’s a significant concern because we know that in a thriving democracy, having access to free media and proper journalism that is subject to scrutiny and standards is fundamental,” Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said, saying it “illustrated a pattern of dangerous behaviour” by Meta.

“We are aware of the issues that involve Meta in terms of their lack of responsibility, transparency and accountability, which is only capable of being exercised when you have that market power.

“(Meta is) the worst platform for online scam (and) not doing enough in terms of online safety, particularly for children, and (there is a) lack of transparency with its algorithms.”

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland. Picture: Martin Ollman

Meta’s News Media Bargaining Code arrangements are set to expire in coming months, with its decision not to renew threatening to inject a $70m shortfall into the national news media market share.

The company has faced criticism about how its platforms have been used to sway elections through disinformation. The Weekend Australian understands this is one of the global changes it has made to limit its influence in an election-heavy year.

However, Ms Rowland said Meta didn’t care about “public-­interest journalism” and the company needed to pay its fair share.

Online creator Konrad Benjamin, who runs Punter’s Politics on Instagram, said he was frustrated with a “ban around the edges”.

The move applies to Meta’s Instagram and Threads platforms. Picture: AFP

“We’re constantly at the mercy of guessing what the algorithm gods might deem worthy of blessing with the gift of their ­algorithm boost,” he said.

“Unfortunately, part of the game is literally just taking what you can get and trying to adapt.”

Mr Benjamin feared the effect the move would have on the political engagement of everyday Australians. “I want to cut through media distractions and empower people to engage with the substance of political conversations rather than getting caught up in manufactured culture wars,” he said.

“Now with the taps turned off, a lot of people will continue to remain oblivious as really important political decisions are made that hurt their best interests.”

Kos Samaras. Picture: Aaron Francis

Konrad Benjamin.

The change comes as Meta also walked away from its main analytics tool to gauge biased content, CrowdTangle.

“It (Meta’s move) is another aggressive step towards taking on political parties and institutions,” RedBridge director and former Victorian Labor strategist Kos Samaras said, saying the company had little incentive to promote political content. “(Social media) is already a really difficult medium for any form of political advertising because the algorithm they’ve set up is quite combative.”

However, Mr Samaras said that a lot of content by domestic politicians and parties was often “garbage”, forcing politicians to improve their messaging.

“It’s the same as stuff I was watching back in 2000,” he said, saying politicians had not “adjusted to the new reality” and the poor quality of their content “limited it from going viral”.