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Instagram Blocks ‘Democrats’ Search Results

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Instagram Blocks 'Democrats' Search Results

Meta is working fast to fix a problem on Instagram where searches for “Democrat” or “Democrats” show a message saying “results hidden.” This started after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, which Mark Zuckerberg of Meta attended.

Social media expert Matt Navarra thinks the issue is likely just a technical glitch, but he said it’s still embarrassing for Instagram. “In today’s very divided political climate, even small mistakes can lead to big accusations of bias,” Navarra told the BBC. He also mentioned that if this isn’t fixed quickly, it could lead to conspiracy theories and hurt Meta’s image.

When Instagram users search for “#Democrat” or “#Democrats,” they see no posts, but searching for “Republican” shows 3.3 million posts. If users search for “Democrats” without using a hashtag, Instagram says it hid the results because they might have “sensitive content.” The term “Republicans” also shows fewer results than “Republican.”

Meta confirmed there is a problem affecting many political hashtags and said they are trying to fix it quickly. “We’re aware of an error affecting hashtags across the political spectrum and we are working quickly to resolve it,” Meta stated.

Zuckerberg’s presence at Trump’s recent inauguration shows Meta is getting closer to the new Republican government. After Trump was re-elected, Zuckerberg changed how content is managed on his platforms, calling it a “cultural tipping point.”

Joel Kaplan, a well-known Republican, was chosen to be Meta’s new global affairs chief. Zuckerberg visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November, and Meta also donated to a Trump fund.

In the past, Trump and his supporters have accused Meta of silencing conservative voices and even threatened Zuckerberg with jail time. However, Trump praised Meta’s recent decision to stop using fact-checkers, saying, “Meta has come a long way.”

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