We've said it before and we'll say it again: Nobody wants to use Mark Zuckerberg's "Threads" app, and Mark Zuckerberg himself doesn't seem to want anyone to use it either:
Not even 24 hours [after it debuted its search feature], the company was embroiled in controversy. When users went to Threads to search for content related to "covid" and "long covid," they were met with a blank screen that showed no search results and a pop-up linking to the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Meta acknowledged in a statement to The Washington Post that Threads is intentionally blocking the search terms and said that other terms are being blocked, but the company declined to provide a list of them. A search by The Post discovered that the words "sex," "nude," "gore," "porn," "coronavirus," "vaccines" and "vaccination" are also among blocked words.
Okay a few of those I can understand — porn, nude, no complaints there.
But "coronavirus?"
"Vaccines?"
Really, Mark? Really? The printing ink isn't dry on your new app and you're already engaging in major censorship?
A company spox told the Post that the app is banning search results that "may show potentially sensitive content." Seems like, you know, a bit of an overreaction. There's a bit of a difference between "sensitive content" and "topics of major public import that everyone is talking about." I don't think it's hard to see.
And people aren't happy. One science researcher said he was "excited" about Threads's new search option, only to be disappointed that it censored so many of the topics immediately relevant to science. Another called the censorship "indefensible."
Anyone who's unhappy with the Threads policy can just do what the rest of us do and not use it!
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