Meta’s Threads platform now filters out “potentially sensitive” keywords from search results.

OAN’s Elizabeth Volberding
3:50 PM ⁤–‍ Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Threads, a new text-based social media platform created by Meta, ⁤formerly known ⁢as Facebook, has implemented a ​controversial⁣ measure. They‌ have blocked keywords related to COVID-19 vaccines and other‍ “potentially sensitive” topics.

According to The⁤ Washington Post, Meta’s revamped⁢ search engine initially displayed a blank ⁤screen⁢ and redirected users to the CDC’s website when⁣ they⁣ searched ‍for terms like ⁢”coronavirus” and ⁤”COVID”.

“We just began rolling out keyword‌ search for Threads to ⁢additional countries last⁣ week,” a Meta spokesperson told Fox News Digital in ⁢a statement. ‌“The search functionality temporarily doesn’t provide⁤ results for keywords that ‌may show​ potentially sensitive content. People will⁣ be ⁢able to search ​for keywords such as ‘COVID’ ‌in future ⁢updates once we are confident‍ in the quality of the results.”

Meta‌ has confirmed ⁣that this blocking of searches is a “temporary” measure.

Furthermore, the Post reported that words like “sex,” “nude,” “gore,” “porn,” “coronavirus,” “vaccines,” and “vaccination” have also been blocked‌ on ‍Threads’ search⁤ engine.

Public health professionals, including World Health Network ​Outreach Director‍ Julia Doubleday, ⁣have criticized ⁢Meta’s decision to prohibit ⁤COVID-related ⁣searches. They argue ‌that social media plays a crucial role in providing information to patients who are seeking‍ more knowledge​ about their virus diagnosis.

“Long COVID ‌patients have died of organ failure, infections, cardiac events and more, and social media is one place they can​ share information. Cutting off communication between suffering and disabled patients is​ cruel in⁢ the extreme,” Doubleday stated. “It’s indefensible.”

Threads was officially launched by Meta in early July and gained over 100 million sign-ups in its first week. ⁢However,⁤ users noticed ‍that the platform lacked many ⁤features that made Twitter ⁣successful.

Additionally, the rapid development⁤ and release of Threads, which took​ only five months to build, may have contributed ​to these initial discrepancies. ‍The app was created in response to Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter.

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