Instagram's hidden political agenda with Threads. Dive into the subtle tactics of Instagram's CEO. Discover more now.
There was a time, not so long ago, when politics and social causes were distinctly separate from the workplace and K-12 school environments. This era, enduring until May 25th, 2020, was marked by an unspoken agreement that politics was as welcome in these spaces as a winter chill in spring. However, the winds of change have transformed these landscapes into battlegrounds for "social" causes. The question that arises is: how did we arrive at this juncture?
This transition was subtly ushered in by movements such as Black Lives Matter. Interestingly, Taylor Lorenz, a corporate narrative activist who supports a zero COVID policy in 2023, practices doxxing, and is an anti-free speech advocate for the Washington Post, seems to have overlooked this shift.
Adam Mosseri, Instagram's CEO, recently made waves with his announcement about the new Threads app. He stated, 'We're not a platform for politics,' adding that 'hard news, politics... it's not worth the incremental engagement or revenue.' The Threads app, a standalone messaging app, is designed along the lines of Twitter. In fact, its resemblance to Twitter was so striking that it prompted Elon Musk to file a lawsuit against them.
Taylor responded directly to Mosseri stating, "You can't create a 'public square' where talking about news and politics is discouraged or that content is downranked."
This level of naivety is indistinguishable from satire or parody. She admits publicly online that she holds her breath when walking through airport security, having to take off her mask. Afraid of COVID. In the year 2023. It's hard to imagine if she isn't a parody account and has really been living the last three years like this every single day.
What the Jeff Bezos ass-kissing, mouth-breathing Lorenz failed to grasp was the unspoken implication. When Mosseri says that Instagram is going to emulate a 1990s company where politics is taboo, he isn't referring to the kind of establishment politics that Lorenz endorses. Such politics will always find a place. Just as the Black Lives Matter movement found its way into schools, despite the fact that the primary goal listed on the Black Lives Matter website is not social, but political - a goal that coincidentally aligns with Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi's Uni-party wish to prevent Donald Trump from ever running for office again. Yet, this group, BLM, is still discussed in workplaces and schools across the United States. The Advanced Placement College Board even tried making this politically charged movement an official part of AP African American history.
The distinction between social issues and hard politics is becoming increasingly blurred. If you are pro-choice, that's considered a social issue. If you are pro-life, that's categorized as hard politics. This dichotomy may not sit well with many, but it's a reality we must acknowledge. Social issues have taken center stage, overshadowing traditional politics. Ron DeSantis, for instance, has based his entire 2024 campaign on his nebulous concept of being anti-woke. Yet, if you display an LGBTQ flag and declare yourself an ally, that's not considered political. Even though it's the symbol of the Democratic party machine's third Reich. Why? Because someone has decided it isn't. Who? It's a big club and you ain't in it.
The Threads app is designed to steer users towards corporate Democrat and Republican talking points disguised as cultural and social issues, while marginalizing those who advocate for power distribution to the masses. Mosseri could have made an announcement that social issues will be downranked also because they have become political and divisive. Of course no such announcement would be made otherwise it would close the backdoor. On the topic of design, when trying to create a Twitter competitor, would it be too much to brainstorm what the reposting catchphrase will be. "Rethreaded" might be worse than "retruthed".
Once Threads establishes its footing, the next chess move could be the federal government, non-government organizations and activists pressuring Twitter into adopting similar censorship measures or risk being obliterated. This is the new landscape of social discourse, where politics and social issues are intertwined, and the lines that once separated them have been irrevocably blurred.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, through their "philanthropic" organization, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, donated approximately $400 million to two non-profit organizations, the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) and the Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR). This funding was supposedly neutral and bipartisan, aimed at supporting safe and reliable voting in the United States during the 2020 election, which was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Washington Times reported that this funding was a significant factor in the election results, as it was targeted to critically important areas for Biden.
Given these findings, it's clear that Zuckerberg's actions during the 2020 elections were far from apolitical. Despite his claims of neutrality, his funding had a significant impact on the election results. And now, with the launch of the Threads app right before the 2024 presidential election, one has to wonder if history will repeat itself. Will the app be another tool for political manipulation, subtly favoring one side over the other? Only time will tell. But for now, would someone tell Taylor to calm down? Threads put her at the top of the app, so new users could find her easily. Maybe she'll be able to demonize or doxx one of the populists who follow her just to get good laughs, show up to their house wearing a dirty surgical mask, write an article in an attempt to get them targeted but instead highlight their great work and turn them into a social media star.
