Threads and Instagram users will no longer be able to opt out of being shown political content from people they do not follow, parent company Meta has announced.

The firm says its part of its reorientation towards “free expression” – a move that saw it ditch fact checkers on Tuesday.

The change will be introduced in the US this week before being expanded globally next week.

Users will not be able to turn off unsolicited political posts but can choose between three settings – less, standard or more.

The head of the two platforms Adam Mosseri – who had previously said he was opposed to news and political content – says users have “asked to be shown more” of such posts.

But Drew Benvie, chief executive of social media consultancy Battenhall, questioned whether that was accurate, saying the real motivation was the “changing political winds” in the US, where Donald Trump will shortly return to the White House.

“Threads and Instagram were largely thought of as ‘safe spaces’, especially compared to the turbulent developments on X,” he told the BBC.

He predicted it could drive people towards rivals such as Bluesky, but said she also worried about the impact on those who stayed on Meta platforms.

This week’s changes “will open up the potential for vast amounts of disinformation to spread at speed across a user base of over 2 billion,” he warned.