After spending years censoring right-leaning podcasters, Meta is suddenly and hypocritically advertising its aims to attract more podcasters.
A Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch on Tuesday that its Threads platform is set to have new features aimed specifically at bringing podcast content there. Podcast links that appear in users’ feeds will now have special colored backgrounds and image thumbnails, making it easier for people to identify and watch or listen to podcasts. Creators will also have a special section in their Threads profile where they can share a link directly to their podcasts. But these changes come after Meta’s long history of censoring podcasters with whose views it did not agree.
Podcasts are an increasingly popular form of political commentary and entertainment online across numerous apps, and it seems Meta is trying to tap into that. The company might also be anxious to boost Threads, which has struggled to compete with X ever since its launch. Threads will not be a podcast distribution platform, TechCrunch was informed, but it aims to help podcasts measure how different topics and discussions register with users.
The success of this new venture is doubtful in light of previous Meta anti-free speech activities. For example, in April, Instagram suddenly suspended show host Hannah Faulkner’s account, vaguely stating that it violated community guidelines. Meta subsequently restored her account, claiming the censorship was an error. In Sept. 2024, Facebook deleted a post from then-show host Dan Bongino exposing Vice President Kamala Harris advocating government censorship action. The platform accused Bongino of trying “to gather sensitive information.”
As far back as 2021, Facebook imposed a 90-day live stream suspension on radio host and former presidential candidate Austin Petersen for defending Kyle Rittenhouse while Rittenhouse was on trial for shooting rioters in self-defense. Also in 2021, Instagram suspended live video sharing for then-PragerU podcast host Amala Ekpunobi. The platform vaguely lectured, “[p]osts from your account have recently been removed for going against our Community Guidelines.”
Free speech is under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
