Meta addressing Instagram issues related to political hashtags
Meta has confirmed that it is working urgently to rectify a problem with Instagram, which leads to a "results hidden" message appearing when users search for the terms "Democrat" or "Democrats".
Some users on social media have accused the company of political bias, noting that this issue arose soon after President Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday, which saw attendance from Meta's owner, Mark Zuckerberg.
Social media expert Matt Navarra suggested that the issue is likely technical but acknowledged it to be "embarrassing" for Instagram nonetheless. "In a hyper-partisan environment, even unintentional errors like this can escalate into accusations of partisanship," he stated.
Navarra further warned that if the problems are not resolved quickly, they could fuel conspiracy theories and harm Meta's reputation.
While users searching for "#Democrat" or "#Democrats" find no results, the hashtag "Republican" yields 3.3 million posts on the platform. When searching Instagram for "Democrats," users are met with a screen indicating "we've hidden these results".
The notification reads: "Results for the term you searched for may contain sensitive content." Additionally, there are limited results available when searching for "Republicans" compared to "Republican".
In a statement to the BBC, Meta assured that they are aware of the problem affecting hashtags across the political spectrum and are working to resolve it swiftly.
