Political Content on Instagram: Is It Allowed?

You can use political content on Instagram but must follow the IG community guidelines. It’s a good idea to read these guidelines to better understand the rules by which you must post content. Social media giants impose these rules to improve the accuracy of political content and avoid foul behavior. 

In this article, we’ll share the different types of content from people with political accounts. Also, you can learn about the political content settings of Instagram. This allows you to control the political content you expose yourself to while using the Instagram app.

Keep reading for an overview of the political and social topics you might find on Instagram!

What Is Political Content on Instagram?

Political content on Instagram encompasses a wide range of topics and formats in the sphere of politics. Some Instagram accounts try to steer clear of these topics to avoid unwanted attention, while others lean into them. Here are the different types of Instagram political content you can expect:

• Campaigns and elections: These are posts on political campaigns, candidates, and elections. This can include promotional content from candidates, endorsements, debates, and election results.
• Political opinions and commentary: Instagram accounts provide a range of personal opinions, commentary, and discussions about political issues. This type of users sharing this content type includes individuals, Instagram influencers, or media organizations.
• Advocacy and activism: Content promoting social and political causes, movements, and advocacy efforts. Some top examples include posts about climate change, social justice, human rights, and other social issues. 
• News and information: News articles, updates, and information about current political events and issues. This includes political posts from news organizations and journalists. You may also notice that content from accounts in some niches is always political. 
• Government and official communications: Announcements, updates, political discourse, and information from government agencies, officials, and political parties. This can include policy changes, public service announcements, and official statements.
• Political memes and satire: This includes humorous or satirical content about politics. Memes, cartoons, and satirical videos fall under this category and often provide commentary on political events like the presidential election.

How To Change Instagram Political Content Settings

Now, let’s focus on how you can alter your Instagram political content settings to improve the quality of your experience on the platform. Here’s the step-by-step process for completing this process: 

1. Open your Instagram app. 
2. Tap on the profile picture to ward the bottom right. 
3. Choose the Suggested content and then Political content. 
4. Now, you can select the option Limit political content from people you don’t follow. 

After you make the change above, the majority of political content will not enter your feed. However, this strategy doesn’t work 100% of the time. You can also report instances of political content to Instagram customer support.

Is Meta Limiting Political Content?

Yes, Meta limits political content by making algorithm adjustments, limiting Instagram ads, and content moderation. These measures will significantly reduce the amount of political content the average users will see. This includes on Facebook and Instagram social media platforms. 

This might be because Facebook has been the target of accusations for helping push political narratives. Also, high authority figures accused Facebook of facilitating the manipulation of presidential elections. 

Therefore, Facebook takes steps to work with government agencies to alter the way political content is suggested to audiences. 

You may have noticed less political and health-related content on Instagram. However, this means that politically focused content will suffer from the Instagram algorithm‘s lack of recommendations.

Threads Political Content: Who Should You Follow?

Instagram Threads is a platform where you can follow individual users and receive text message updates. You can also follow political figures on the app to get more insight into their thoughts and schedule. 

For example, you can receive updates on when they might be at an event in your location. Also, you may want to discover what new laws or legislations they may work on. 

Overall, Threads’ political content is popular on only specific accounts. This means you need to seek them out to get political content recommendations.

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ: Can I run political ads on Instagram?

Yes, you can run political ads on Instagram, but there are strict guidelines and transparency requirements. For example, advertisers must verify their identity and disclose who is funding the ads. 

Meta also maintains an Ad library where political ads are available for public viewing. These measures aim to prevent misinformation and ensure that users understand who is behind the political content they see. Furthermore, compliance with local laws and regulations is also mandatory.

FAQ: How does Instagram handle misinformation in political content?

Instagram handles misinformation in political content by employing a combination of AI, machine learning, and human fact-checkers. This helps identify and reduce misinformation in political content. 

When you detect misinformation, it is either labeled with fact-checking information or removed if it violates community guidelines. Furthermore, users have tools to report misleading content. Additionally, Instagram limits the spread of posts identified as containing false information to reduce their visibility.

FAQ: Are there restrictions on posting political content during elections?

During election periods, Instagram may implement additional restrictions to prevent the spread of misinformation and maintain a fair electoral process. This can include heightened scrutiny of political ads, limiting the amplification of political posts, and increased fact-checking efforts. 

Furthermore, temporary measures, such as pausing political ads close to election day, may also see enforcement to prevent last-minute misinformation and undue influence on voters.

FAQ: Does Instagram limit the reach of all political content or just certain types?

Instagram limits the reach of political content it feels is misleading, harmful, or in violation of its community guidelines. This includes misinformation, hate speech, and extremist content. 

While general political discourse is not outright restricted, Instagram’s algorithms may deprioritize overly partisan or contentious posts. The idea is to promote healthier and more balanced user experiences. These measures aim to reduce the negative impact of divisive political content while maintaining freedom of expression.

Political Content on Instagram Is Allowed

Posting content about politics on Instagram is possible if you follow the guidelines and relevant laws. You need to be mindful of what content you post and make sure that it’s accurate. Otherwise, you will face backlash and potentially face an Instagram shadowban. 

However, most businesses and regular content creators may want to avoid political content on Instagram. That’s because making mistakes can alienate audiences or get you in trouble with the platform. Therefore, you may want to pursue other Instagram growth strategies. 

Are you finding it hard to come up with IG growth strategies that work? 

Then, use Plixi for a service that consistently scales IG accounts to the next level. We provide a range of techniques that will send the right followers to your account. 

So what are you waiting for? Choose Plixi and enjoy the growth of your IG account!