Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has responded to leftists claiming that Facebook and Instagram are forcing them to follow the accounts of Donald Trump, JD Vance, and First Lady Melania Trump. According to the company, these users are confused as the official White House accounts are transitioned to the new administration.
Meta, the parent company of social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, has found itself in the midst of controversy as users report being automatically made to follow the accounts of President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and First Lady Melania Trump without their consent. Additionally, users claim searches for leftist hashtags such as #Democrat or #Democrats have resulted in messages stating that the content may be sensitive and the results are hidden.
In response to these complaints, Meta Communication Director Andy Stone took to Threads and X to address the concerns. Stone clarified that users were not forcibly made to follow any of the official accounts for the President, Vice President, or First Lady. He explained that these accounts are managed by the White House and the content changes with each new administration, while the existing followers remain unchanged. This procedure, according to Stone, is the same as the one followed during the previous presidential transition.
This is the same procedure we followed during the last presidential transition. It may take some time for follow and unfollow requests to go through as these accounts change hands.
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) January 22, 2025
However, many leftists remain unconvinced by Stone’s explanation. They claim that despite never having followed Biden, Trump, or any political accounts in the past, they suddenly found themselves following the POTUS, VPOTUS, and FLOTUS accounts. Some users also reported difficulties in unfollowing President Trump’s account, to which Stone responded by saying that it may take some time for follow and unfollow requests to go through as the White House accounts change hands.
Regarding the issue with leftist hashtags on Instagram, Meta attributed it to a technical problem affecting multiple hashtags, including some related to the Republican Party. The company stated that they are working quickly to resolve this issue.
There’s an issue affecting people’s ability to search for a number of different hashtags on Instagram - not just those on the left. We’re working quickly to resolve this. https://t.co/S3OywJVRZX
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) January 21, 2025
The recent changes in the content users see in their feeds can be attributed to the modifications announced by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the start of January. These changes included the suspension of the fact-checking program and a reduction in the amount of censorship on Meta’s platforms. Zuckerberg’s appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast, where he stated that companies need more “masculine energy,” has also drawn criticism, with a leftist lawyer dropping Meta as a client in a copyright case due to Zuckerberg’s “toxic masculinity and neo-Nazi madness.”
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
