Meta launches quote post controls for all Threads users, letting them allow quotes from everyone on Threads, only the people they follow, or disable quote posts
TechCrunchAnthony Ha
Context & Ripple Effects
Threads had already introduced a chronological feed for followed accounts, establishing a product direction around giving users more choice over how they participate in public conversation. Quote-post settings extend that control from feed selection to how others can recirculate a user’s posts.
The move also sits within an evolving Threads feature set that later included customizable feeds and an API, making user-governed interaction rules increasingly relevant to both the product experience and its broader ecosystem.
First-order effects
Threads users can now choose whether their posts may be quoted by anyone, only accounts they follow, or nobody.
The setting gives users a direct way to limit unwanted recirculation while preserving quote-post reach for those who want it.
Second-order effects
Quote-posting behavior on Threads must adapt to each author’s permission setting, reducing the assumption that any public post is available for quote-driven discussion.
The control creates a competitive benchmark for social platforms: Mastodon’s later planned quote-post safety controls similarly emphasize limiting unwanted “dunking.”
Third-order effects
If such controls become standard, social networks may increasingly treat resharing and reply mechanics as configurable consent layers rather than default attributes of public posting.
That would shift competition from simply offering high-engagement interaction formats toward offering users clearer control over the social costs of visibility.
The trend: Social platforms are moving toward finer-grained controls over distribution and interaction as they balance public reach with user safety and agency.
The ability to limit who can quote your Threads posts is now available to everyone. You can allow quotes from everyone on Threads, only the people you follow, or disable quote posts entirely. I hope this will help keep Threads a more positive place and give people more control …
You could have AI scan the text in the image to reference who the OP came from, verify if the image matches the OP or has has been modified, and obviously extend this to notifying the author of the OP that someone has posted a screenshot of their content so we can verify if the c…
Hey @mosseri, I actually think this is a good first step, but there are some obvious workarounds (screenshots in particular). If you really want to start putting AI to good use on threads, start thinking about how it can protect us from those workarounds by adding active layers …
AI could even have the ability to tag the image with a public disclaimer that it has been modified from its original source if its content (specifically the text when referencing the OP) has been altered in any way, or has been removed to prevent libel and misinformation...That's…
I don't necessarily mind this option, but I think you should be able to limit replies *or* quotes, and not both at the same time. Sort of a “choose your ratio method” option. Do you want to be replied to humiliation, or quoted to humiliation? Choose your fighter.
In my experience features like this are always used by people with lots of followers as a way to harass people with few followers. I fundamentally disagree with limiting replies and to me it only serves the most powerful interests.
I use quotes a lot, this is interesting. It does limit the amount of negativity, but also limits any amount of exposing BS outside of using the reply section. I can see this being utilized to make propaganda with no real consequence.
I am glad smart quotes has been enabled on @threads! I believe joinmastodon is working on implementing this too, although I am not sure when it will be available.