Instagram users complain of sudden flood of violent and graphic content; Meta ‘fixes error’

Users had raised concerns over the extensive push of violent and graphic content being recommended on their personal “Reels” page. Several took to social media platforms to talk about the sudden influx of such content on their Instagram pages

Hyderabad: Meta, on Thursday, confirmed that it had “fixed the error” that resulted in a flood of violent posts and graphic content on their actively used social media platform Instagram.

The move came after many users raised concerns over the extensive push of violent and graphic content being recommended on their personal “Reels” page. Several users took to social media platforms to talk about the sudden influx of such content on their Instagram pages.

“We have fixed an error that caused some users to see content in their Instagram Reels feed that should not have been recommended. We apologize for the mistake,” said a Meta spokesperson in a statement to CNBC.

According to Meta policy, the company ensures that its users are protected from disturbing and violent content, and flags posts or reels that contain such information. Videos containing visible triggering content, insensitive imagery and inhuman remarks are prohibited on its social media platform.

However, the error occurred soon after it announced plans to loosen its content moderation policies to promote free expression.

The company said it plans to change the rules and regulations regarding content moderation. The shift will focus on prohibiting explicit content such as “illegal content, child exploitation, terrorism, drugs, frauds and scams” instead of the existing “all policy violation.”