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(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 President of the United States at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC on January 20, 2025.
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images
Instagram users have been complaining this week about being forced to Meta to continue of President Donald Trump social media accounts without their consent.
In a Threads post on Wednesday, a Meta representative said users are seeing messages from @POTUS, @VP, and @FLOTUS because those accounts are handed over when there is a US presidential transition.
“People were not automatically following one of the official Facebook or Instagram accounts of the president, vice president, or first lady.” he wrote Andy Stone, spokesperson for Meta. “Those accounts are managed by the White House, so with a new administration, the content on those pages changes.”
Users who previously followed the accounts will continue to follow, as well as accounts from the previous administration’s archive, when the transition of power occurs, Meta confirmed in an email. That includes the @WhiteHouse account.
Trump’s inauguration on Monday was the third handover from one administration to another. The issue was addressed by the Obama administration that created many of the accounts that are used today a blog post Before the 2016 election, which Trump also won.
“On Instagram and Facebook, the incoming White House will access the White House username, URL and maintain followers, but will begin with no content on the timeline,” the Obama administration wrote. “An archive of White House content that was posted on Obama White House Instagram and Facebook will be available to the public at Instagram.com/ObamaWhiteHouse and Facebook.com/ObamaWhiteHouse.”
The Obama administration added that all messages and materials created by the accounts would be stored at the National Archives and Records Administration and that new accounts would also be created to store the content.
Posts from accounts 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 chatter has increased on Meta’s platforms following a series of moves by the CEO Mark Zuckerberg It seemed aimed at placating President Trump.
Zuckerberg He gave a million dollars to Trump’s inauguration and he participated Also the event in Washington DC organizing a celebratory reception.
This month Zuckerberg announced several policy changes for Meta, among others eliminating third-party fact-checking and ending the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion program. The company too He nominated Joel KaplanThe former Republican White House staffer, as the new policy leader, and Zuckerberg, in an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, extolled the benefits of masculinity.
“I think having a culture that celebrates aggression a little bit more has its merits,” Zuckerberg said on the podcast.
