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Meta has refuted allegations that it is deliberately increasing support for President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance by automatically making users follow their official accounts on Facebook and Instagram.

Numerous users, including singer Demi Lovato, have reported that their accounts unexpectedly followed Trump and Vance without their consent and that attempts to unfollow them were undone within hours. These concerns were amplified after some users noticed that the #Democrat hashtag appeared to be blocked on Meta-owned platforms, displaying a message stating that the content had been hidden.

The controversy follows Meta’s recent decision to scrap its fact-checking programs and loosen moderation on politically sensitive topics, including immigration and gender.

In response, Meta’s communications director, Andy Stone, stated on X that the affected accounts are managed by the White House and automatically transition when a new administration takes office. However, frustrated users pointed out that past presidential pages—such as those from Joe Biden’s administration—were archived as separate accounts, contradicting Stone’s explanation.

One user questioned, “Then why have I had to unfollow them multiple times? Y’all keep adding them back.” Another argued, “If this was just an automatic switch, follows wouldn’t have increased throughout the day.”

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Addressing concerns about the #Democrat hashtag being blocked, Stone claimed it was part of a broader technical issue affecting multiple hashtags across Instagram, not just political ones. He assured users that Meta was working on a fix.

The backlash comes after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company would no longer rely on third-party fact-checkers, instead implementing a Community Notes system similar to X. Additionally, Meta has rolled back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and removed Pride and LGBTQ+ themes from Facebook Messenger. A policy update now allows content describing LGBTQ+ identities as a mental illness under the guise of “political and religious discourse.”

Following continued criticism, Stone later provided further clarification on Threads, reiterating that users were not automatically made to follow Trump and Vance and that any delays in follow/unfollow requests were due to the transition of these accounts. However, concerns about Meta’s handling of political content and its perceived alignment with the new administration remain unresolved for many users.

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