(L-R) Priscilla Chan, Meta and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Lauren Sanchez attend the inauguration ceremony before Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th U.S. president in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., January 20, 2025.
Saul Loeb | Af | Getty Images
Instagram users have been complaining this week that they are being forced to do so Meta follow President Donald Trump social media accounts without their consent.
In a post on Threads on Wednesday, a Meta representative said that users see @POTUS, @VP and @FLOTUS posts because those accounts are transferred when the U.S. president changes
“People were not forced to automatically follow the official accounts of the president, vice president or first lady on Facebook or Instagram,” he added. he wrote Andy Stone, Meta spokesman. “These accounts are managed by the White House, so with the new administration, the content on these pages changes.”
Users who previously followed the accounts will continue to follow them, as well as archive accounts from the previous administration, when the transfer of power occurs, Meta confirmed in an email. This includes the @WhiteHouse account.
Trump's inauguration on Monday marked the third transfer of power from one administration to another. The Obama administration, which created many of the accounts used today, addressed this issue in blog entry before the 2016 election, which Trump also won.
“On Instagram and Facebook, the new White House will gain access to the username, White House URL, and retain followers, but will begin without content on the timeline,” the Obama administration wrote. “An archive of White House content posted on the Obama White House Instagram and Facebook will continue to be publicly available at Instagram.com/ObamaWhiteHouse and Facebook.com/ObamaWhiteHouse.”
The Obama administration added that all posts and materials created in the accounts would be retained at the National Archives and Records Administration and that new accounts would 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, respectively.
Political discussions have intensified on Meta platforms following a series of moves made by the CEO Mark Zuckerberg which seemed intended to appease President Trump.
Zuckerberg donated $1 million Down Trump's inauguration AND attended even an event in Washington co-organizer of the ceremonial reception.
This month, Zuckerberg announced several changes to Meta's policy, including eliminating third party fact checking AND Completion of the company's diversity, equity and inclusion program. The company too appointed Joel Kaplana former Republican White House employee, as the new head of White House policy, and Zuckerberg extolled the virtues of masculinity on Joe Rogan's podcast.
“I think there are benefits to a culture that celebrates aggression more,” Zuckerberg said on the podcast.
