(LR) Meta and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, and Lauren Sanchez at Donald Trump’s meeting at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. Attended the inauguration ceremony before becoming the 47th president of the United States.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Instagram users have been complaining this week that they’re being forced to do so. Meta Following President Donald Trump’s social media accounts without consent.
In a Threads post on Wednesday, a representative for Mehta said users are seeing posts from @POTUS, @VP, and @FLOTUS as these accounts will be taken over during the presidential transition in the United States. said.
“People are not designed to automatically follow the official Facebook or Instagram accounts of the president, vice president, or first lady,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone wrote. “These accounts are controlled by the White House, so any new administration will change the content of these pages.”
Users who previously followed the account will continue to follow the previous administration’s archived accounts after the transition, Mehta confirmed in an email. This includes the @WhiteHouse account.
President Trump’s inauguration on Monday marked the third handover from one administration to the next. The Obama administration, which created many of the accounts currently in use, addressed the issue in a blog post ahead of the 2016 election, also won by Trump.
The Obama administration stated, “On Instagram and Facebook, the next White House will have access to the White House username and URL to maintain followers, but will start with no content on their timeline.” . “Archives of White House content posted to President Obama’s Instagram and Facebook will remain publicly available at Instagram.com/ObamaWhiteHouse and Facebook.com/ObamaWhiteHouse.”
The Obama administration added that all posts and materials created by the account will be archived at the National Archives and Records Administration, and a new account will also be created to preserve the content.
Posts from accounts previously used by former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and former first lady Jill Biden have been moved to @potus46archive, @vp46archive, and @fotus46archive, respectively.
Meta’s platform has become increasingly politically charged following a series of moves by CEO Mark Zuckerberg that appear to be aimed at placating President Trump.
Mr. Zuckerberg donated $1 million to President Trump’s inauguration, attended the event in Washington, D.C., and co-hosted the reception.
Zuckerberg announced several policy changes to Meta this month, including eliminating third-party fact-checking and ending the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion program. The company also named former Republican White House staffer Joel Kaplan as its new policy director, and Zuckerberg appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast to tout the benefits of masculinity.
“I think having a culture that celebrates aggression a little bit more has its own benefits,” Zuckerberg said on the podcast.
WATCH: Critics slam Zuckerberg’s MAGA move
