Meta-owned Instagarm users in the United States flood the internet with an unusual complaint that they are “unable to follow” Donald Trump and JD Vance.
According to CNN, Instagram users, including celebrities such as singers Demi Lovato and Gracie Abrams, posted their complaints on social media on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, that the platform is not allowing them to unfollow news about the US President, Vice President, and First Lady Melania Trump.
The Close To You singer wrote, “How curious! Had to block them in order to make sure I am nowhere near that,” while the As The Bell Rings actress posted a story that read, “I have unfollowed this guy twice today.”
Other social media users also posted similar complaints. A user said, “Happening to me over and over again. Super frustrating. I even block after I unfollow, and hours later I'm following again.”
“I checked all day long and I wasn't following them, then outta nowhere about an hour ago I was following them,” another penned.
Notably, this came just two days after the Republican took the presidential office for the second term on Monday, January 20, 2021.
Following the complaints from the users of Mark Zuckerberg's social media company, Meta issued a statement and denied all the accusations of forcing users to follow certain personalities.
Meta spokesperson Andy Ston wrote on X, “People were not made to automatically follow any of the official Facebook or Instagram accounts for the President, Vice President, or First Lady. This is the same procedure we followed during the last presidential transition.”
Stone further explained that those accounts are managed by the White House, and it would take some time to go through follow and unfollow as “these accounts change hands.”
However, the incident has raised liberal concerns over Meta, which has shifted its policies towards the right in recent weeks.
