Adam Mosseri, Instagram Head, Declares Threads Will Not Increase News Spread

Threads has made a huge impact since its launch on July 6, quickly reaching 100 million users in just 5 days, making it the fastest-growing platform ever. It is Instagram’s response to X, which has undergone significant changes since being acquired by Elon Musk. Some users have criticized X’s actions as harsh and have sought out alternative platforms, with Threads benefiting from this. However, recent remarks from Instagram’s CEO, Adam Mosseri, could potentially hinder Threads’ efforts to compete with X and become the leading microblogging site globally.

Threads don’t confirm news

In a conversation with The Verge in July, Adam Mosseri said that Threads is “not going to do anything to encourage” hard news or politics on its platform. During an Instagram producer a few days ago, the Instagram chief reiterated his opinion about the content, which is confirmed by the threads, according to a report by TechCrunch. He said: “We want to empower creators in general. We try not to get too caught up in the news. We’re not anti-news.”

In a Threads post yesterday, Mosseri further clarified: “We’re not against news. News is clearly already on Threads. People can share news; people can follow accounts that share news. We’re not going to get in anyone’s way either. But we’re also not going to validate news on the platform. It doing so would be too risky given the maturity of the platform, the downsides and stakes of overpromising.

X’s approach

While Threads is pretty concerned with news, X aims to keep people on the platform longer. As a result, the platform recently removed headers from link previews on the iPhone app as well as the X version. Musk said the move was to “improve aesthetics” and encourage creators to post more “long-form” content on the platform.

In addition to the news, Musk wants X to be a super app similar to WeChat in China. Announcing Twitter’s rebranding as X on July 24, CEO Linda Yaccarino said that in addition to X being a social media platform for users to interact with, X would also offer a variety of services, including audio, video and messaging services. It would also offer banking and payment services.