2023-07-14 20:03:43
Over the last decade, Meta has been constantly criticized for the way it handles content moderation on its platforms, including being accused of allowing the spread of fake news and hate speech on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. For Threads, however, the company will take a different approach and delegate to users the definition of what types of content will appear to them.
That’s what Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta, says in an interview with the Washington Post. The executive said that, as Threads is being developed and gaining new features, Meta intends to give users control over what type of content is displayed on their timelines – including the most controversial posts on the platform.
Read more:
It is a strategy similar to the one already being adopted by Facebook, and which removes the decision on what type of content can or cannot on the platform from the company, offering users the possibility of defining whether or not they will be exposed to certain types of posts.
(Image: André Fogaça/Digital Look)
This type of approach is also similar to that found on rival platforms such as Mastodon and BlueSky, which give users options to choose from, for example, whether explicit nudity images will be shown to them or not.
Criticism of the Facebook and Instagram algorithm has already caused immense damage to Meta, which includes lawsuits and even political questioning – Mark Zuckerberg has already had to testify before the US Congress to explain his company’s decisions.
The company does not want to repeat this with the new product. The decision to leave moderation up to users also clashes with a recent statement by Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s boss, who said that Threads will not encourage political and news posts on the platform. These contents tend to attract more heated discussions that can easily result in hate speech, for example.
Nick Clegg commented on Mosseri’s statement, and stated that the idea is not to suppress the distribution of this type of content. “That would be absurd”, said the executive, adding that what Mosseri meant is that the company will not promote news content on the platform as Facebook has done in the past, nor will it create a special tab for this type of post.
Even so, even with moderation being up to the user himself, Meta claims that whoever has an account on Threads will still need to follow the platform’s content guidelines, which are the same as Instagram: hate speech and harassment, for example. , are not allowed. And, as the platforms are very integrated, anyone who loses their Instagram account for violating the terms of use will also have their Threads profile deleted.
Have you watched the new videos on YouTube of the Digital Look? Subscribe to the channel!
#Threads #users #responsible #choosing #content #platform