It’s been nearly a year since Instagram and Threads defaulted to blocking recommendations of “political” content from accounts you don’t already follow, but now Instagram boss Adam Mosseri says, “...we’re going to be adding political content to recommendations” on both platforms.

In a move users are calling "embarrassing" and lacking "courage," Instagram and Threads head Adam Mosseri announced that the platforms will be recommending political content to users once again. "As per @zuck’s post yesterday about free expression yesterday [sic],

Threads and Instagram users will no longer be able to opt out of being shown political content from people they do not follow, parent company Meta has announced. The firm says its part of its reorientation towards "free expression" - a move that saw it ditch fact checkers on Tuesday.

In a post on (where else?) Threads, Mosseri said the company will be shifting away from its opt-in requirement for users to see political content. Instead, political content will be recommended by default, and users will have the ability to adjust the fire hose with three different settings options: less, standard, and more.

Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Threads, has stirred controversy by announcing significant changes to its political content policies. The decision to replace traditional fact-checkers with Community Notes comes just two days after a prior announcement about content moderation adjustments.

According to Instagram head Adam Mosseri, the platforms will now offer three levels of exposure to political content: “less,” “standard” (the default setting), and “more”

This change will mainly affect creators who post political content on both platforms. The move will help them get a better reach on the platform. This was not possible with Instagram’s current policy of blocking political posts for users who don’t already follow such accounts. Essentially shadowbanning their accounts and limiting their audience.