Instagram Threads Continues to Stumble as Moderators Block the Wrong Content
By Movieguide® Contributor
Instagram’s Threads continues to flounder, despite Meta throwing big bucks behind the platform meant to compete with Elon Musk’s X. Recently, Threads Moderation Failures began to trend as users shared how they were punished by the platform for minor indiscretions.
The Verge’s Umar Shakir compiled some of the obscure reasons for which users were censored:
I’m one of many people who’s had their account deleted for allegedly being a child — which I am not.
Moderation is a perennial problem on social media, but based on social media posts and The Verge staff’s own experiences, Meta is currently banning and restricting users on a hair trigger. One of my colleagues was locked out of her account briefly this week after joking that she “wanted to die” because of a heatwave.
Others, like Jorge Caballero, say the automated system has added fact checks with mistakes to material it detects as political, as well as throttling posts with factual information for events like hurricanes. Some have dubbed their situation “crackergate,” as recent posts mentioning saltines or the words “cracker jacks” have been instantly removed.
According to Digital Information World, some other issues include:
Meanwhile, some creators are talking about adding fact-checks featuring political content errors. Other posts featuring weather alerts about the current hurricane system were also getting deleted or blocked. It’s almost like doing anything slightly controversial might get you locked out from the platform.
As per social media expert Matt Navarra, it’s amazing how Meta is taking this so lightly. His account on Threads was downranked for no good reason after he shared a real story about Tom Brady falling for a hoax linked to Meta AI. After complaining about the issue publicly, an explanation was provided to him by the app’s boss.
Some users are getting locked out of the platform because they’re mistakenly labeled as underage. Hence, they’re asked to show proof of their age through ID verification. But even when they do, their accounts still don’t get restored, even after a span of one month.
When directly asked about some of the moderation restrictions, Instagram and Threads head Adam Mosseri asked for a user to direct message him the issue. Except, Threads doesn’t have a DM option.
Mosseri did issue a statement on his personal page in response to the uproar.
“For those of you who’ve shared concerns about enforcement issues: we’re looking into it and have already found mistakes and made changes. Most prominently, our reviewers (people) were making calls without being provided the context on how conversations played out, which was a miss. We’re fixing this so they can make the better calls and we can make fewer mistakes. We’re trying to provide a safer experience, and we need to do better. Thanks for your patience and keep the feedback coming,” Mosseri said.
But is it enough? Or will Threads continue on its downfall to obsolescence?
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