Meta denies users’ claims that it forces them to follow the Potus account
The new administration brought new theories of social media conspiracy.
In the United States, Facebook and Instagram users said they were forced to follow the president Donald Trump and vice-president Jd vanceThe accounts, while Tiktok users alluded to an unwanted change in the application algorithm.
Among the users of Facebook and Instagram complaining of forced consequences included singer Gracie Abrams, who declared in an Instagram story that she should not follow the @potus And @vp Accounts three times separate, Cnn reported. Singer Demi Lovato Also noted in its Instagram history, “I unsubscribe this type twice today.”
According to The hillMany users who said they had been forced to follow the accounts had not previously followed the former president Joe Biden or former vice-president Kamala HarrisIt was therefore not the accounts that change hands.
Katie HarbathWho was Director of Facebook Public Policy for the World Elections from 2011 to 2021, said CBS News That his team followed the same protocols thanks to administrative transitions in 2017 and 2021, giving each president entering a clean slate on the platform.
“This would give them the opportunity to configure the page as they wish, make sure he has the cover photo, all this jazz,” she added. “Then, it was decided that, assuming that people follow the institution – without what is in whom there are – that subscribers would be reflected, copied on the new page.”
The director of meta-communizations, Andy Stone, denied allegations in a PublishWriting: “People were not made to automatically follow one of the official Facebook or Instagram accounts for the president, the vice-president or the first lady. These accounts are managed by the White House, therefore with a new administration, the content of these pages changes. This is the same procedure that we followed during the last presidential transition. He can take a while to follow and unsubscribe requests to follow because these accounts change hands. »»
Some Instagram users have also said that the hashtag #democrat had been blocked on Instagram this week, CNN reported. Rock responded on x“There is a problem affecting people’s ability to seek a number of different hashtags on Instagram – not just those on the left. We work quickly to solve this problem. »»
The recent actions of Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg have probably contributed to speculation, in particular meet trump In Mar-A-Lago, make a donation of $ 1 million Trump inauguration fund, promoting the ally of the Republican Party Joel Kaplan to the World Affairs Manager, adding the CEO of the UFC and Trump Ally Dana White to the Meta board of directors, Elimination of the verification of third -party factsAnd reducing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
As for Tiktok, Semaor reported that the rest of the application 14 -hour stop Last weekend, many creators began to publish videos alleging that algorithm felt different, some saying that their comments, flows and research functions were censored.
Semafor has reported that many of these videos had counted millions of likes. A Tiktok spokesperson told Semaor: “Our policies and algorithms have not changed this weekend.”
Like Zuckerberg, Tiktok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, was seen as seeking to arouse the favor of the Trump administration. Last week, he published a video praising the president of the time Supreme Court confirmed a law that would force a ban on application in the United States Met Trump In his Mar-A-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida last month, and Assisted the inauguration on Monday.
