Meta under fire for making users automatically follow Trump & Vance on Facebook, blocks #Democrat & #DNC on Instagram

Update 21/01/25 – 08:51 pm (IST): Hours after reports about Meta labeling certain Democrat hashtags on Instagram as sensitive content, it seems like the problem has now been resolved. Users have noticed the fix and I’ve also been able to search for #Democrat #dnc and #Biden without running into a roadblock.

Update 21/01/25 – 06:55 pm (IST): Meta issued a statement to the BBC about certain Democrat hashtags getting the sensitive content label on Instagram stating, “We’re aware of an error affecting hashtags across the political spectrum and we are working quickly to resolve it.”

Original article published on January 21, 2025, follows:

Facebook is under fire after users noticed their accounts were automatically following President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. But this wasn’t some random glitch and people are not happy about it. Many insist they never followed these figures or interacted with their pages, yet there they were on their profiles.

One user said their cousin noticed a notification about Trump changing his profile picture. When they checked their own profile, they found they were following Trump’s page as of January 2025. Another user reported that attempts to unfollow Trump and Vance didn’t stick, with the platform forcing them to re-follow. The workaround? Blocking the accounts entirely.

A lot of people are saying they’ve had enough and are quitting Facebook for good. Comments like, “I’ll be off all Meta products shortly“ and “I don’t trust Meta.” are popping up everywhere. Others are calling it a blatant overreach and questioning why the platform thinks it’s okay to decide who they should follow.

It’s worth noting that in most instances, people are referring to the POTUS account, not Trump’s personal page on Facebook. Remember, the POTUS account automatically updates once the Presidency switches over. Don’t confuse this with Trump’s personal page. So if you were following President Biden (via the POTUS account), you’ll now see the page updated with President Donald J. Trump’s name. The same goes for the Vice President and First Lady. Therefore, Facebook isn’t really automatically making users follow Trump, Vance, or the First Lady. However, reports about people not being able to unfollow the accounts is concerning nonetheless.

Facebook hasn’t made a statement yet, but this isn’t the first time Meta’s been accused of meddling in political optics. Early last year the company decided to limit the amount of political content its algorithms promote. A few months later, Meta and Google were also accused of suppressing information related to Trump. But after Trump’s election win, Meta’s top man, Mark Zuckerberg, seemed to start cozying up to Trump, even making a generous donation for his inaugural committee.

And now, after Trump’s swearing-in, it seems Facebook took the next big step by forcing a large number of users to follow Trump and Vance. For now, users are stuck between outrage and confusion. Blocking these pages seems to be the only way to guarantee they don’t reappear in your follows.

Instagram’s problems are also adding fuel to the fire. Several users tried searching for #Democrat or #DNC and found no results, with some screenshots showing a “sensitive topic” warning. In contrast, searches for #Republican and #RNC worked perfectly. While Meta hasn’t commented, many suspect this is a deliberate choice rather than a bug.

I managed to replicate this too. Searching for #Democrat and #DNC resulted in a “We’ve hidden these results” notice that claimed it was done because it may contain sensitive content. Here are a few screenshots for reference:

Meta’s silence so far isn’t helping. Users are left feeling like they have less control over their accounts and feeds. Whether this leads to any real action from Meta remains to be seen, but for now, it’s clear the trust many users once had in these platforms is wearing thin.

We’ll post an update if and when there are any further developments regarding the two issues.