Last October, Facebook announced its plans to start labeling state-controlled media and started rolling out the feature in June. As spotted by journalist Casey Michel, the company is reportedly bringing similar changes to Instagram.
Instagram has begun rolling out new “state-controlled media” labels—here are the ones for Kremlin outlets aimed at younger Americans: pic.twitter.com/vyUySA1zbW
Instagram doesn’t limit its political labels to the profile page. You will also see this label below the account’s name when you’re viewing posts published by such accounts. This way, viewers will stay informed about the content they’re watching or reading on the platform.
Here’s what the new “Russia state-controlled media” label on Instagram looks like when you’re scrolling: pic.twitter.com/VXrfhBmmui
The identification process is based on the company’s own research and assessment against a set of criteria developed for this purpose. This includes reviewing available information about ownership, governance, sources of funding, and following certain processes to ensure the editorial independence of the organization.
