Instagram is giving users a closer look under the hood of its recommendation engine, unveiling an AI-powered feature that lets people view and adjust the topics shaping their Reels feed.
The move lands amid pressure on platforms to open the black box of algorithmic curation, and arrives in the same week Australia enforced its world-first under-16 social media ban.
A closer look at ‘Your Algorithm’
The new feature, called Your Algorithm, sits in the top-right corner of the Reels tab, marked by a small icon with two lines and hearts.
Tapping it opens a personalised dashboard of the interests Instagram believes define each user’s feed – a running map of what the app thinks you like, based on your viewing and engagement history.
From there, users can “view a personal dashboard of their top interests” and choose which topics they want to see more or less of. Meta says the recommendations will shift in real time.
“Instagram has always been a place to dive deep into your interests and connect with friends,” the company wrote in a blog post. “As your interests evolve, we want to give you more meaningful ways to control what you see.”
Transparency under regulatory pressure
The launch signals a notable shift in tone from Meta, which for years resisted calls for deeper transparency around its recommendation systems – often described as the industry’s secret sauce.
Critics argue that opaque algorithms fuel echo chambers or surface harmful content; regulators have increasingly sought to address those risks.
Meta now says Instagram is “leading the way” by giving users the power to fine-tune their feed, including the option to type in specific topics to modify how the system treats them.
The company plans to expand the feature beyond Reels into Explore and other app surfaces. It’s available now in the United States and will “roll out globally in English soon.”
Arriving in a charged policy moment
The timing hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Yesterday, the federal government’s under-16 social media ban rolled out, in a sweeping attempt to “take back control” from tech giants and curb what the government labelled “predatory algorithms.”
While Your Algorithm won’t change Meta’s enforcement obligations, it does signal a platform leaning into user choice as the regulatory climate tightens.
It also gives Instagram a cleaner narrative: more visibility, more agency, and – critically – more distance from the suggestion that algorithms operate unchecked.