Instagram’s recommendation algorithm went haywire on Wednesday and served uncensored videos featuring murders and nudity to many users. “I watched 10 people die today,” said one Instagram user whose account was affected speaking to the Wall Street Journal. “I saw at least 60 people killed by gangs or other dudes, uncensored, many with neck cut or blasted by guns... WHAT IS HAPPENING?” wrote another user on Reddit page r/Instagram in a post titled, “Instagram is now 100% gore.” Another user posted a screenshot of dozens of videos with a “sensitive content” overlay in their feed, which they said were usually full of cute cat videos. Meta introduced shortform video platform Reels in 2020 in an attempt to catch up with rival social media service TikTok, and both use algorithms to select videos for users. “We have fixed an error that caused some users to see content... that should not have been recommended,” an Instagram spokesperson said, adding, “We apologize for the mistake.”
Read it at The Wall Street Journal
