Thread by @CCDHate

Instagram is broken.

Its algorithm is recommending Covid and vaccine lies to millions of users during a pandemic.

Our new report with @RestlessDev exposes the problem and how @instagram's owner @Facebook can fix it.

Sign our open letter to #fixinstagram counterhate.com/fixinstagram

Instagram recommends content to keep its users hooked. The reasons are simple:

⌛️ Keep users on Instagram
👀 Keep showing them ads
💵 Keep making money

But Instagram reaps profits by recommending dangerous misinformation and hate.

Instagram’s broken algorithm is recommending dangerous misinformation and hate to users:

🦠 Covid misinformation
💉 Vaccine lies
⛔️ Antisemitic hate
🕳️ QAnon conspiracies
🗳️ Election misinformation

Read on to see examples of recommended misinformation we uncovered.

Instagram’s broken algorithm recommends Covid lies to users who interact with anti-vaxxers or conspiracies.

@Facebook decided to push more of these recommendations during a pandemic.

We need to #fixinstagram. Sign our open letter to Mark Zuckerberg: counterhate.com/fixinstagram

Instagram said it doesn't recommend vaccine misinformation to users.

But it's doing just that.

Users who interact with conspiracies are being targeted with lies about Covid vaccines.

We need to #fixinstagram. Sign our open letter to Mark Zuckerberg: counterhate.com/fixinstagram

Instagram’s broken algorithm is publishing antisemitic hatred.

Users who interact with vaccine lies were recommended these conspiracies linking Israel to the Covid pandemic.

We need to #fixinstagram. Sign our open letter to Mark Zuckerberg: counterhate.com/fixinstagram

Facebook promised to crack down on the QAnon conspiracy last year.

But @instagram’s broken algorithm continued to recommend QAnon posts to users who interacted with misinformation.

We need to #fixinstagram. Sign our open letter to Mark Zuckerberg: counterhate.com/fixinstagram

Facebook promised to protect the integrity of the US elections.

But as Americans voted, @instagram’s algorithm undermined the election by pushing election lies to millions of users.

We need to #fixinstagram. Sign our open letter to Mark Zuckerberg: counterhate.com/fixinstagram

Mark Zuckerberg owns @instagram, but he denies it’s a publisher.

He told the US Senate “we don’t choose upfront what we publish.”

But his broken recommendation algorithm is publishing misinformation to millions of people.

Instagram’s algorithm is broken but it can be fixed.

We’re calling on @instagram to:

🛠️ Blacklist misinformation accounts
🛠️ Exclude posts about Covid or vaccines
🛠️ Limit recommendations
🛠️ Warn users about misinformation
🛠️ Display corrections to affected users

Instagram’s algorithm is pushing misinformation to keep people hooked and make more money.

It’s wrong and it has to stop.

Sign our open letter and tell Mark Zuckerberg to #fixinstagram. counterhate.com/fixinstagram

We don’t just monitor lies and hate - we counter them.

This year we forced Big Tech to stop giving platforms to anti-vaxxers, neo-Nazis and attempts to undermine the US elections.

Now we need your help - please chip in so we can continue our work. gofundme.com/f/CCDH-fund-th…