This week, Facebook introduced a new feature for Instagram and Threads users that will allow them to deprioritize fact-checked content in their feeds. And while this tool will let users choose what to do with controversial content, some critics say it could also serve as a fast-track to censorship.

According to Facebook, it’s giving users three options for what to do with fact-checked content: reduce, reduce more, and don’t reduce. Theoretically, this tool could both crack down on misinformation and give users a valuable set of controls for the content they see.

“We’re giving people on Facebook and Instagram even more power to control the algorithm that ranks posts in their Feed,” the company said in a statement. “If someone wants to adjust the demotions on fact-checked content in their Feed, they must change the setting on their own. We’re doing this in response to users telling us that they want a greater ability to decide what they see on our apps.”

However, some activists are claiming this tool could be used to censor content around hot-button topics like the Israel-Hamas war. As always, there’s no good answer for Facebook, and even when it tries to protect users from harmful content, it ends up offending another group in the process.

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