TikTok’s reappearing act isn’t the only social media scandal brewing this week — some Instagram users report that they are trapped in a vicious cycle wherein the app keeps forcing them to follow President Trump and Vice President Vance.
The trouble began after the inauguration when users logged onto Instagram and discovered they were suddenly following the newly elected President and Vice President. X user @grandesubz wrote, “Insta just automatically made me follow trump?!?! That’s so fking weird” and X user Julia warned “instagram is making your accounts auto-follow jd vance and the POTUS account!!”
The internet vibes are skewing extremely dystopian this week, so users are understandably suspicious. But an innocent explanation exists: In a Threads statement posted the day after the inauguration, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone reminded users that the POTUS, VP, and First Lady Facebook and Instagram accounts are managed by the White House. “They change when the occupant of the White House changes.”

So, to reiterate: If you were following President Biden or Vice President Harris, you are now following President Trump or Vice President Vance until you choose to unfollow.
Or at least that’s what users thought …
Information is circulating from both social users and celebrities suggesting that while Meta might not be forcing users to initially follow the new administration, they might be doing something to prevent followers from leaving.
X user @onedxsunflower posted “this is literally so f*ckass creepy? i unfollowed the vp account immediately as it became vance’s. now you’re telling me i’m following it again without doing anything?? Girl-.” Other users across the platform acknowledged similar issues, with @NC_Ree writing “Zuck is over there on FB forcing folks to follow trump vance and melania on their new official accounts. I immediately unfollowed, then went back and hour later and magically @finkd has me following trump again.”
On Instagram, celebrities like Demi Lovato and Gracie Abrams used their platforms to warn fans about their own experiences. Lovato posted a screenshot of Vance’s account in her stories, writing “I have unfollowed this guy twice today” and adding “Shady f*cking business meta.”

Gracie Abrams reported similar problems, writing in an Instagram story that “I had to unfollow @vp and @potus three (3) separate times today because @meta kept automatically refollowing the accounts.”

She explained that she blocked both accounts and is “sharing in case this is happening to your account as well.”
An innocent explanation might exist here too. In his statement, Stone wrote “It may take some time for follow and unfollow requests to go through as these accounts change hands.”
There you have it. Either Meta is strong-arming social users into consuming content posted by the new administration or — more likely — the system is struggling to keep up with the millions of people suddenly following and unfollowing these accounts. Regardless of which is true, the buck stops with Meta.
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