Instagram making algorithm changes after being accused of censoring pro-Palestine content

After accusations of censoring pro-Palestine content, Instagram on Sunday announced that it has tweaked its algorithms and will be able to rank original content and have it reposted “equally”. Instagram’s change in settings comes after recent complaints by staff that viral, breaking news and up-to-date posts related to Palestine in recent Gaza War were being taken down automatically on platform.  social media giant has prioritized original content in “story” that usually appears at top of user’s feed if content is reshared extensively or reposted by ors and is viral. But it has not been case with pro-Palestinian content, according to some reports. A group h filed more than 80 complaints against content censored by Instagram's automated moderation system, according to Buzzfeed. 

A spokeswoman for Instagram told outlet that more and more users were sharing news and content about conflict in Gaza, but way platform was set up h, what she described, a “greater than expected impact” on size of audience that was able to view that content. ditionally, Instagram and Facebook’s algorithms label words that have been seen as more common with Palestinian users, such as “martyr” and “resistance,” that are interpreted by platform as incitement to violence. She ded, saying that story of resharing feed posts hasn’t been reaching audience’s expectation, and it’s not a good experience. So, refore, Instagram plans to give same weight to reshared posts, just like story that was originally created by platform. 

'Over-execution of takedowns' alleged

As many as 50 employees on Facebook, and Instagram, expressed concern about suppression of pro-Palestinian content. Employees told Financial Times that y didn’t believe that censorship on Facebook and Instagram was in any form intentional but that re were “large-scale moderation biases groups” that were left out from audience exposure. complaints alleged over-execution of takedowns of content that inclined to Palestine. 

“I’m sorry for those who feel that y can’t pay attention to important events, or that this intentionally suppresses ir voice. This is by no means our intention and we do not want to silence any particular community or perspective,” Facebook h earlier said in a statement. Instagram announced that it was now changed in its AI systems after critics dipped app review rating of platforms across both Apple and Google app stores. ratings usually 4 out of 5 were dropped to 2.3 on Google Play and 2.4 out of 5 on App store.