Topline
Threads plans to add labels to identify accounts operated by state-run media outlets and offer fact-checking on the platform, a Meta executive told Australian authorities Tuesday, days after Instagram chief Adam Mosseri stated that the Twitter-like platform won’t encourage “politics and hard news.”
Threads plans to add labels for state-run media outlets and shore up fact checking.
Key Facts
Addressing an Australian Senate hearing on foreign interference, Josh Manchin, Meta’s public chief for Australia, said the company is hoping to “expeditiously” add “labels for state-affiliated media and fact-checking,” Reuters reported.
Manchin said all content on Threads will have to adhere to policies that currently apply to both Facebook and Instagram and any post subject to removal on those two platforms would face similar action in Threads as well.
Manchin did not mention a timeline for when the labels will be added to Threads, although they already exist on Instagram—whose accounts are linked to Threads.
Accounts operated by outlets like RT and RIA feature a “Russia state-controlled media” label on Instagram, but no such label appears on their Threads accounts.
Key Background
Manchin’s remarks come just days after Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said Threads will not encourage “politics and hard news” on its platform. Mosseri tried to justify this decision by saying: “any incremental engagement or revenue they might drive is not at all worth the scrutiny, negativity (let’s be honest), or integrity risks that come along with them.” Despite efforts to stay away from politics, the week-old app has already come under fire from right-wing commentators and politicians who have accused Threads of censoring conservatives. Users attempting to follow certain right-wing figures—including Donald Trump Jr.—on Threads were greeted with a warning saying the account has “repeatedly posted false information.” Meta later said the warnings were the result of an error that has been fixed.
Tangent
Earlier this year, Twitter decided to ditch labels for state-affiliated media outlets and government entities after limiting its verified badge to accounts that pay for its $8-a-month subscription. The labels had been in use since 2020, but they became a subject of controversy in April after the platform’s owner Elon Musk implemented changes that added the “state-affiliated” to Western public broadcasters such as NPR, BBC, PBS and CBC. NPR rejected the label, touting its editorial independence, and said it receives less than 1% of its annual budget from the federal government. Both NPR and PBS stopped posting on Twitter after the labels were added.
Further Reading
Threads Won’t Promote Political Or Hard News Content — A Contrast From Twitter (Forbes)
Conservatives Accuse Threads Of Censorship—But Meta Claims It Was An Error (Forbes)
