Some Meta users said that they believed they were forced to follow Donald Trump and JD Vance’s pages, and that Instagram was blocking searches for the #democrat hashtag.

In an unexpected twist, following President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, Instagram and Facebook users began noticing their accounts automatically following official profiles of the new administration,

In the days since Donald Trump assumed office, many people online have begun expressing alarm to find they were unwittingly following Trump on Instagram and Facebook.

Some Meta social media users said on Wednesday (Jan 22) that their accounts re-followed the profiles of President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and first lady Melania Trump after they had unfollowed those accounts once Trump took office for his second term.

Meta denies that Instagram and Facebook users were forced to follow Donald Trump and JD Vance after the inauguration.

Just days after Donald Trump’s inauguration, many Instagram and Facebook users found themselves ‘automatically’ following the newly sworn-in President, his deputy JD Vance and First Lady Melania Trump.

After President Donald Trump’s swearing in Monday, numerous Facebook and Instagram users discovered — to their horror and dismay — that they were somehow following not only Trump but also Vice President JD Vance,

Many users of both social media sites were surprised to see President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance show up in their feeds since the two were sworn in on Monday.

Meta's communication director, Andy Stone, responded to the reports on Threads and X. He wrote that people were not made to automatically follow any of the

Facebook and Instagram users have accused Meta of artificially boosting Trump's follower count by forcing people to follow him in the wake of Monday's inauguration. The issue was raised after several people discovered that their accounts were following the president despite them having given no indication that this was something they'd like to do.

The followers for both accounts rapidly increased after Mr Trump acquired the @POTUS Instagram handle and Mr Vance was assigned the @VP handle. Many people have complained on social media that they never followed the politicians in the first place.