Threads moderation is broken admits head of Instagram

Content moderation and its enforcement on Threads and Instagram is broken, admitted Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri. This follows multiple posts on Meta’s social media apps that were randomly marked for allegedly questionable or objectionable content.

Threads moderation enforcement is broken, accepts Mosseri

Multiple social media users have been vocal about overly cautious content moderation techniques on Threads and Instagram. It appears they weren’t wrong in assuming that moderation enforcement is broken on these platforms.

The head of Instagram Adam Mosseri has acknowledged that Meta’s moderation techniques and the company’s enforcement policies have been acting weird. This strange behavior has been happening for a few days. While several users have raised doubts, the incidents were rather isolated.

According to The Verge, Meta deleted a staff’s account claiming moderation teams suspected it belonged to an underage user. The social media giant also reportedly locked another account owing to a joke.

Over the last two days, such incidents have grown rapidly, causing “Threads Moderation Failures” to trend. It is interesting to note that Mosseri is directly replying to some complaints. In one of the posts he said he’s “looking into it.”

Why has Meta suddenly started locking or deleting accounts?

Mosseri has admitted that Meta is having problems with processes involving moderation. He even publicly posted the acknowledgment on Threads.

The Instagram and Threads boss has stated there’s a “tool” that broke. He added the tool did not show human reviewers “sufficient context” before they made posts and accounts disappear.

In other words, Meta has admitted that it still depends heavily on human moderation teams. According to Mosseri, humans decide on what to delete and who to ban, and Artificial Intelligence is merely flagging posts for possible enforcement actions.

Following Mosseri’s admission, moderation on Threads and Instagram appears to have improved. Meta has quietly reinstated locked and banned accounts, and several posts that were deleted have reappeared. What is concerning is Meta continues to post a very brief note about deleted content or locked accounts, which does not offer a proper explanation for the actions.