Facebook’s new Twitter clone, “Threads,” will not “encourage” hard news and politics, said head of Instagram Adam Mosseri, who added that the social media platform is an app for users who are interested in a “less angry” environment.
“The goal isn’t to replace Twitter,” Mosseri told the Verge’s Alex Heath on Threads. “The goal is to create a public square for communities on Instagram that never really embraced Twitter and for communities on Twitter (and other platforms) that are interested in a less angry place for conversations, but not all of Twitter.”
Instagram head Adam Mosseri (Steve Jennings/Getty)
(Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images, BNN Edit)
“Politics and hard news are inevitably going to show up on Threads — they have on Instagram as well to some extent — but we’re not going to do anything to encourage those verticals,” Mosseri added.
After being asked if that’s because he doesn’t “think those verticals provide value relative to the others? The historical company baggage with news? Mix of both?” Mosseri said, “Politics and hard news are important, I don’t want to imply otherwise.”
“But my take is, from a platform’s perspective, any incremental engagement or revenue they might drive is not at all worth the scrutiny, negativity (let’s be honest), or integrity risks that come along with them,” the Instagram boss continued.
“There are more than enough amazing communities – sports, music, fashion, beauty, entertainment, etc – to make a vibrant platform without needing to get into politics or hard news,” Mosseri added.
The Instagram boss later clarified his initial response, adding that while Threads won’t “discourage or down-rank news or politics,” it won’t “court” them.
“We won’t discourage or down-rank news or politics, we just won’t court them the way we have in the past,” Mosseri said. “If we are honest, we were too quick to promise too much to the industry on Facebook in the early 2010s, and it would be a mistake to repeat that…”
Despite Mosseri’s claim that the Twitter clone wouldn’t “down-rank news or politics,” the platform brought Facebook’s trademark brand of censorship to bear on conservatives within hours of its launch. As Breitbart News previously reported, the platform censored Donald Trump Jr. immediately upon launch:
Threads, the Twitter clone touted by Facebook executives as the “sanely run” alternative to Elon Musk’s Twitter, has launched with the company’s characteristic political bias, censoring Donald Trump Jr. with a warning message the platform’s first day of operation.
Threads users who attempt to follow the former president’s son receive a warning message before they are allowed to do so.
“Are you sure you want to follow donaldtrumpjr? This account has repeatedly posted false information that was reviewed by our independent fact-checkers or went against our community guidelines.”
In comments to staff that were later reported in the press, a Facebook (now known as Meta) executive said the creation of threads was driven by pressure from “creators and public figures,” who desire a “sanely run” platform. This comment shows Facebook plans to censor its new platform as it does both its main platform and Instagram, perhaps using the infamous “third-part fact checks” that it later admitted in court are just opinions.
Threads, which looks very similar to Twitter, launched on Wednesday and swiftly surpassed 70 million signups. This comes at a time when Twitter users are complaining about Elon Musk’s platform, which has recently limited how many tweets people can view in a day, causing confusion and frustration among social media users in multiple countries.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.