Threads blocking “potentially sensitive” topics in search
Meta Platforms is not showing search results for what it deems “potentially sensitive” topics in its recently launched Twitter (now “X”) rival Threads.
The Washington Post was the first to discover that that app is blocking searches of terms related to the Covid-19 pandemic “covid”, “covid-19”, “coronavirus”,” vaccines”, and “covid vaccines”.
It also prevents users from searching for “gore”, “nude”, and “sex”.
Meta first added search functionality for Threads posts last week, roughly two months after launch. It initially only offered the ability to search for Threads users.
A meta spokesperson told The Washington Post that blocking certain terms in search was a temporary measure.
“The search functionality temporarily doesn’t provide results for keywords that may show potentially sensitive content,” they said.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri, who is also responsible for Threads, tweeted that the company was aiming to learn from its past mistakes and believed it was better to bias towards being careful in the search rollout.
Meta’s other social media platforms — Facebook and Instagram — often have their hands full in dealing with a flood of fake news and misinformation.
While Twitter has a team that reviews whether content infringes its policies, it also relies on community-driven fact-checking to annotate potentially misleading posts with context and links to reputable sources.
Although many have criticised Twitter’s approach as being too relaxed, some analysts believe that the platform allowing certain controversial content is what makes it attractive to many users.
Now read: Twitter expands crowd-sourced fact-checking to videos
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