Instagram tweaks algorithm after ‘censoring’ pro-Palestinian content

After workers accused the company of censoring pro-Palestine content, Facebook-owned Instagram has tweaked its algorithms that will begin ranking original and re-shared content equally.

The employees at Instagram made numerous appeals about content that had been censored by automated moderation, reports The Verge.

Now, the company has made changes in its AI systems.

Social media firms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have been criticized over the past several weeks about how they handled the content around the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Last week, pro-Palestine activists hit Facebook with a coordinated campaign where they have been successful in pushing down the app review rating of the social networking platform on both Apple and Google app stores.

The average star rating for the social network was down from over 4 out of 5 to 2.3 out of 5 on Apple’s App Store and 2.4 out of 5 on the Google Play after receiving thousands of one-star reviews.

“Our policies are designed to give everyone a voice while keeping them safe on our apps, and we apply these policies equally, regardless of who is posting or their personal beliefs,” a Facebook spokesperson had said in a statement.

“We have a dedicated team, which includes Arabic and Hebrew speakers, closely monitoring the situation on the ground, who are focused on making sure we’re removing harmful content, while addressing any enforcement errors as quickly as possible,” the company spokesperson was quoted as saying.

–IANS