US Meta users report automatic re-tracking of accounts of President, Vice President Reuters
Author: Doyinsola Oladipo
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Some Meta social media users said on Wednesday their accounts had re-followed the profiles of President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and first lady Melania Trump after unfollowing those accounts after Trump took office for his second mandate.
When a presidential administration changes, the White House’s official social media accounts transition to the new elected officials. This happened in 2017 and 2021, when Trump succeeded Barack Obama as president, and then again when Trump was succeeded by Joe Biden.
However, some users said that even after unfollowing the accounts of the president, vice president and first lady since Monday, they found that they were soon following those accounts again, in some cases after unfollowing multiple times or blocking the accounts.
“I, like others, unfollowed Trump and Vance multiple times on Monday, only to find myself following them back,” Facebook (NASDAQ: ) user Anna Springer said on Threads, which is also owned by Meta. “I’m not sure if it was just a glitch or something intentional, but it definitely happened.”
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But Meta Communications Director Andy Stone said on Xo that people who were following the official accounts of the Biden administration switched to the same official accounts under the Trump administration.
“People are not made to automatically follow any official Facebook or Instagram account of the president, vice president or first lady,” Stone said on X. “Those accounts are run by the White House, so with a new administration, the content on those pages changes.”
“It could take some time for follow and unfollow requests to go through as these accounts change hands,” Stone told Threads.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
American singer Demi Lovato posted a photo on Instagram of herself following the vice president. “I unfollowed this guy twice today,” she wrote to her 150 million followers.
Others reported that they were also following First Lady Melania Trump without choosing to do so.
“Why did my Facebook automatically start following Melania Trump this (morning)? What are you doing?” actress and comedian Sarah Colonna said on Threads on Tuesday, tagging Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in her post.
Social media users follow other users to see their posts, usually with the click of a button. The more followers an account has, the wider the audience that sees their messages.
