17-10-2023 (SINGAPORE) Users on Instagram have raised concerns over a noticeable decrease in the reach of their posts related to the Israel-Hamas conflict. Meta, the parent company of Instagram, acknowledged the issue on Monday (Oct 16) but attributed it to a “bug.”
Many affected users turned to alternative social media platforms to share screenshots illustrating the decline in engagement on their posts addressing the escalating conflict.
Investigative journalist Azmat Khan voiced her experience, stating, “After posting an Instagram story about the war in Gaza yesterday, my account was shadowbanned. Many colleagues and journalist friends have reported the same. It’s an extraordinary threat to the flow of information and credible journalism about an unprecedented war.”
A “shadow-ban” is a situation in which a social media or online user is either blocked or has their content’s reach reduced without their awareness. This generally results in others being unable to view their posts or comments.
In a statement posted on X by Meta’s Communications Director Andy Stone, the company clarified that the issue was indeed a bug, and it “affected accounts equally around the globe.”
“We identified a bug impacting all Stories that re-shared Reels and Feed posts, meaning they weren’t showing up properly in people’s Stories tray, leading to significantly reduced reach,” Meta explained. “This bug affected accounts equally around the globe and had nothing to do with the subject matter of the content – and we fixed it as quickly as possible.”
This incident is not the first time Meta has faced criticism regarding how its platforms handle pro-Palestinian content. In 2021, Instagram attributed the removal of posts related to a possible eviction of Palestinians from an East Jerusalem neighborhood to technical errors.
