Scrolling through my Instagram, I think I come across a variety of content on my feed. I am presented with an overload of stimuli, from political activism posts to interior inspiration. What comes across as random and diverse in the beginning, upon closer inspection it’s a strategic method to keep me on the app.
There’s been several discussions about Social media app algorithms being bias, but I personally never felt addressed by that until recent developments.
IRAN PROTESTS AS AN EXAMPLE
As an Iranian myself, I am invested and engaged in the current revolution happening in Iran. The nationwide protests in Iran, commenced in September with the death of Mahsa Jina Amini, tortured by the Iranian Morality Police for wearing her hijab improper, has had global impacts and led to ongoing protests. Instagram especially has become a tool of defence and a weapon of protest against the Islamic Republic regime. Iranians use the app to gain a voice and get the worlds attention to their need of victory and freedom. A worldwide movement has started where people take part by sharing, informing and discussing about the issues that women in the Islamic Republic face. Hashtags such as #mahsaamini and #iranprotests have reached millions of people.
As protests grow, the Iranian government censors access to Social media channels to prevent documentation of brutality happening in the country being shared with the outside world. This reaction by the government triggered bigger public debates from people outside of Iran speaking up for Iranian women. Thousands of new Instagram accounts emerged, sharing videos which can’t be publicly shared by the people affected and living in the Islamic Republic. An abundance of Instagram posts are spread by celebrities, newspapers and activists speaking up against the regime.
IS INSTAGRAM TAKING SIDES?
Apparently, accounts trying to raise awareness and drawing attention to the oppression faced are being blocked by Instagram. Activists claim that their profiles have been banned from the app after sharing information regarding the antigovernment movement. British-Iranian actress and human rights activist Nazanin Boniadi, directly confronted Instagram for using algorithms to block content and people via Twitter saying:
‘Fix your algorithms. This is outrageous.’
Other celebrities who have been publicly engaged regarding the Iran revolution have been demonetised on the platform. There are many examples showing that Instagram has been taking sides by blocking content, removing videos and limiting features within the app for addressing political issues.
SHADOWBANNING IS REAL
I remember watching the Instagram stories of German-Iranian comedian Enissa Amani, who is constantly standing up for the Iranian community. Her posts are often informative and educational. One day, her content wouldn’t appear in my feed anymore. I actively searched her name and saw, she addressed that happening to other followers as well. Instagram has been facing criticism for its bias against users posting content that doesn’t align with certain values, be it political, sexual issues or even harmless content that doesn’t breach their community guidelines.
As Rauchberg states, the usage of algorithms on platforms also deletes content of certain groups of people. Social networks suppress the visibility of those people, making it difficult for specific users to be heard. Instagram instead decides to amplify non-controversial topics, causing a mass of bias-driven content. Shadowbanning blocks certain content posted on the platform allowing users to be unaware of such things happening. In Enissas case it was her followers that drew attention to the fact that they couldn’t see her content anymore. Realising that Enissas content wasn’t appearing for me, I wondered what other content was not shown to me in order to limit the visibility regarding certain topics.
‘As long as the algorithm becomes more tailored, the public will be given the illusion of progress.’ Ruha Benjamin
Benjamin claims that advertising only seems to link to our interests, but the practice of shadowbanning by the apps themselves shows that the increase in personalisation is a facade.