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Meta denies forcing Facebook and Instagram users to follow Trump

Rokas Baltrusaitis 2025-01-23

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram has denied allegations that it compelled users to follow U.S. president Donald Trump.

In a Threads post on 22 January, Meta’s communication director, Andy Stone said users of the social media platforms were never made to automatically follow the president, the vice president or the first lady.

As some users stated earlier, Stone confirmed that the accounts of the president and vice president change automatically with change of administration and it’ll take a while for follow or unfollow requests to go through.

Users outraged

Techgaged reported earlier this week just a day after the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump that some Facebook and Instagram users were frustrated that they were forced to follow the president and his vice.

For others, they were unable to unfollow the accounts and found themselves following again even after unfollowing.

Some users of the platform earlier explained that the transition of accounts is automatic as administrations change, and Stone confirmed this, adding that follow and unfollow requests do not happen instantly.

Users on Instagram also accused Meta of censoring search results for the terms “Democrat” and “Democrats”, something experts say may be due to a technical glitch.

From the social media reactions, the allegations are coming up due to the support that Meta CEO Mark Zuckeberg has given Trump.

Prior to the inauguration, Zuckerberg had cancelled the use of Fact-checkers on the company’s social platforms, a move that did not go down well with some users and authorities.

Meta receives backlash

While Meta issued a statement to reassure Facebook and Instagram users that there was no deliberate attempt to make them follow Trump or anyone else against their will, the statement has received a backlash.

Many of the readers responded by calling Stone a liar as they don’t believe that Meta is unbiased in its policies.

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Rokas Baltrusaitis

Rokas is a technology news journalist, studying Creative Industries at VILNIUS TECH University. He specializes in insightful articles on the latest technology trends and their social impact.