This is why you suddenly follow President Trump on Instagram.
(LR) Mark Zuckerberg and Lauren Sanchez, CEO of Meta and Facebook, attend the inauguration ceremony of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images
Instagram users are complaining about being coerced this week. Meta Monitoring President Donald Trump’s Social Media Accounts Without Their Consent.
In a Threads post on Wednesday, meta-representative users are seeing posts from @POTUS, @VP and @FLOTUS because those accounts are broadcast when presidential transitions occur in the US.
“People are not directed to directly follow any official Facebook or Instagram accounts of the President, Vice President or First Lady.” He wrote “Those accounts are managed by the White House, so the content on those pages will change with a new administration,” Meta spokesman Andy Stone said.
Users who previously followed the accounts will continue to follow them, as well as former administrative archive accounts, when the transition occurs, Meta confirmed via email. That includes the @WhiteHouse account.
Trump’s inauguration on Monday marked the third transition from one administration to the next. The Obama administration, which created many of the accounts in use today, addressed the issue. Blog post Trump also won before the 2016 election.
“On Instagram and Facebook, the incoming White House will get the White House username, URL, and followers, but will start with no content on the timeline,” the Obama administration wrote. “An archive of White House content posted on Obama White House Instagram and Facebook will continue to be publicly accessible at Instagram.com/ObamaWhiteHouse and Facebook.com/ObamaWhiteHouse.”
The Obama administration also announced that all posts and materials created by the accounts would be preserved by the National Archives and Records Administration, and that new accounts would be created to protect the contents.
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.
A series of moves by CEO Mark Zuckerberg aimed at appeasing President Trump has fueled political chatter on the meta-forums.
Zuckerberg donated 1 million dollars Trump’s inauguration And participated in Host an event in Washington, DC, even a celebratory reception.
Zuckerberg announced several policy changes for Meta this month, including third-party fact-checking and ending the company’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program. The company named Joel Kaplan, a former Republican White House staffer, as its new chief policy officer, and Zuckerberg touted the benefits of masculinity in an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast.
“I think having a culture that celebrates violence has its benefits,” Zuckerberg said on the podcast.
See: Critics pointed to Zuckerberg’s move to MAGA.