Millions of Instagram, Facebook, and X users were shocked to discover that they were suddenly following Donald Trump. Many users reported that their attempts to unfollow the new president were not working.
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02-13, 2025Users reported seeing posts from the official accounts of Trump and Vice President JD Vance while browsing their feeds. The U.S. President's account looked vastly different from a week prior. In the comments under the President's and Vice President's posts, users expressed despair and decried being "forced to follow" these accounts.
But the explanation is actually quite simple. Both Meta and X (formerly Twitter) have a policy of reserving the official accounts POTUS (President of the United States) and VP (Vice President) for the current holders of those offices. When a new president takes office, the accounts are handed over, but the followers remain.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone stated, "People are not being forced to automatically follow any official Facebook or Instagram accounts for the President, Vice President, or First Lady. These accounts are managed by the White House, so the content on those pages changes with the new administration."
As Joe Biden and Kamala Harris left their positions in Washington, they also lost access to their POTUS and VP Instagram accounts. Consequently, users who had previously followed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris now found themselves following Donald Trump and JD Vance. The First Lady's account also underwent the same change, but Melania Trump has not yet posted anything on the new account.
Many users reported that when they tried to unfollow Trump and Vance, their posts still appeared in their feeds. Stone stated that the change takes some time to take effect. “This is the same procedure we followed during the last presidential transition,” he said. “As these accounts change hands, follow and unfollow requests may take some time to complete.” All previous posts are deleted when new leaders take control of these accounts.
Users also reported seeing more Trump-related content suggestions on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. This is due to a change in Meta’s company policy. Previously, Meta avoided recommending political content to users. But this policy has been changed at the request of CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Stone also stated that the glitch preventing people from searching for #democrats on Instagram was not politically motivated. “There was an issue affecting people’s ability to search for many different hashtags on Instagram, not just left-leaning ones. We are working quickly to resolve this,” he said. Zuckerberg was an invited guest to the inauguration, positioned closer to the dais than Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and one row ahead of most cabinet nominees. Meta donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund.
