Instagram led users to Covid misinformation amid pandemic – report
Recommendations feature also pushed anti-vaccination and antisemitic material, watchdog says
Instagram’s recommendations were pushing users toward Covid misinformation, anti-vaccination content and antisemitic material during the peak of the pandemic, according to a report from a social media watchdog.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) found that new Instagram accounts were shown substantial quantities of misinformation through the platform’s algorithmic recommendations, including the “explore” page and the “suggested post” feature, which was introduced in August 2020 and serves up new posts to users who have scrolled through all their friends’ content.
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