Instagram's AI Crisis Is Not an Accident

Adam Mosseri posted on Threads about Instagram's AI problems, framing them as challenges the platform is facing rather than problems it created. The distinction matters.

Instagram could have stopped AI content from taking over by down-ranking or penalising accounts using it. The system can identify and ban copyrighted music so the "we can't verify content" excuse doesn't hold water. Mosseri claims it'll become impossible to distinguish real from fake content when in fact he's never tried. Instagram has the resources to verify and badge real content, to fact-check and label verified material. They're choosing not to because it doesn't serve their engagement goals.

What really winds me up is when Mosseri says individuals now matter more than publishers or brands. This isn't natural evolution. Meta deliberately undermined traditional media by promoting an endless stream of replaceable creators, specifically to avoid paying established institutions that would demand fair compensation. Rewarding more and more attention seeking posts, then act surprised when nobody can tell real from fake anymore.

I've written before about why I hate Instagram now and how Meta still claims their mission is bringing people together whilst actively thwarting users' attempts to see posts from people they follow. Instagram serves entertainment before actual connections. You know, the reason you followed people in the first place. The platform that once ruined your camera roll with its relentless push towards performative posting is now just going to make everything up.

There might be a sliver of genuine feeling here. Maybe Mosseri really does feel he's lost control, that the genie can't go back in the bottle. His tools to fix it now are weaker than the tools he had to prevent it in the first place. He made the wrong choices at the top, and now it's spiralled beyond his control. That doesn't make him a victim. It makes him responsible.

Meta's pattern is clear: refuse to be "the arbiter of truth" while arbitrating everything in favour of profit. They won't verify content, but they'll verify your credit card. They can't stop AI spam, but they can detect copyrighted audio in milliseconds. They're backing away from even basic responsibility as a distributor of information, the most fundamental duty a platform has to its users.

What Zuckerberg thinks about your posts is that individual creators and publishers "overestimate the value of their specific content." The company built on user-generated content doesn't value what users create. They'll take it, train their AI on it, and show you AI slop instead. All while claiming this is about giving people what they want.

Mosseri is presenting Instagram's AI crisis as an unstoppable force. It's not. It's the predictable outcome of choices he made, and he still has options he's refusing to use. Meta is forcing AI into every single inch of every app it has, so you can’t cry about the results.