(LR) Priscilla Chan, CEO of Meta and Facebook Mark Zuckerberg and Lauren Sanchez attend the inauguration ceremony before Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th President of the United States in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC on January 20, 2025.
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images
Instagram users are complaining this week that they are being coerced Target follow President Donald Trump accounts on social networks without their consent.
In a post on Threads on Wednesday, a Meta representative said users are seeing posts from @POTUS, @VP and @FLOTUS because those accounts are handed over when there is a US presidential transition
“People are not made to automatically follow any official Facebook or Instagram account of the president, vice president or first lady,” wrote Andy Stone, spokesperson for Meta. “Those accounts are managed by the White House, so with the new administration, the content on those pages changes.”
Users who previously followed the accounts will continue to follow them, as well as archive accounts of the former administration, when the transition of power occurs, Meta confirmed in an email. That includes a bill for the @WhiteHouse .
Trump’s inauguration on Monday marked the third handover from one administration to another. The Obama administration, which created many of the bills in use today, addressed the issue in the blog post ahead of the 2016 election, which Trump also won.
“On Instagram and Facebook, the incoming White House will gain access to the White House username, URL, and retain followers, but will begin with no Timeline content,” the Obama administration wrote. “An archive of White House content posted on Obama White House Instagram and Facebook will continue to be available to the public at Instagram.com/ObamaWhiteHouse and Facebook.com/ObamaWhiteHouse.”
The Obama administration added that all posts and materials created by the accounts will be preserved at the National Archives and Records Administration, and that new accounts 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.
Political chatter has intensified on Meta’s platforms following a series of moves by the CEO Mark Zuckerberg which appeared to be aimed at placating President Trump.
Zuckerberg donated a million dollars to Trump’s inauguration and he attended event in Washington DC, even co-hosting the reception.
Zuckerberg announced several policy changes for Meta this month, including eliminating third-party fact-checking and ending the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion program. The company too named Joel Kaplanthe former Republican White House staffer, as the new policy chief, and Zuckerberg, in an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, touted the benefits of masculinity.
“I think a culture that celebrates aggression a little more has its benefits,” Zuckerberg said in the podcast.
