Merve Berker
23 January 2025•Update: 23 January 2025
ANKARA
Meta has rejected accusations that Facebook and Instagram users were automatically directed to follow US President Donald Trump’s official accounts.
After Trump’s inauguration on Monday, some users complained that they had automatically been made to follow the new president, as well as Vice President JD Vance and first lady Melania Trump.
"People were not made to automatically follow any of the official Facebook or Instagram accounts for the President, Vice President or First Lady. Those accounts are managed by the White House so with a new administration, the content on those Pages changes," Meta spokesman Meta Andy Stone said in a statement on Wednesday.
"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," he added.
Meta’s public affairs director Nkechi Nneji also emphasized that the company does not make users follow any account, explaining: “People might have forgotten they opted to follow the official White House accounts during previous administrations.”
Meanwhile, some Instagram users reported being unable to search political terms like "Democrat" and "Republican," leading to further speculation.
Meta attributed the issue to a technical glitch and said it had resolved most search problems affecting political and non-political terms on its platforms.
The timing of these concerns follows changes announced by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, including the end of the company’s third-party fact-checking program and the reintroduction of political content recommendations.
Trump’s personal Facebook and Instagram accounts, suspended after the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack, were reactivated in 2023.
