Instagram recommended false claims about COVID-19, vaccines and the 2020 U.S. election to people who appeared interested in related topics, according to a new report from a group that tracks online misinformation.
“The Instagram algorithm is driving people further and further into their own realities, but also splitting those realities apart so that some people are getting no misinformation whatsoever and some people are being driven more and more misinformation,” said Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which conducted the study.
From September to November 2020, Instagram recommended 104 posts containing misinformation, or about one post a week, to 15 profiles set up by the U.K.-based nonprofit.
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