Meta denies forcing users to follow Trump administration accounts

Meta, the company that owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram, has denied having forced users to follow official accounts of senior officials of the new Trump administration.

Some users of the platforms complained after Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday that they had been forced to “automatically” follow the new president, as well as Vice President JD Vance and first lady Melania Trump.

Meta spokesman Andy Stone explained that the accounts were managed by the White House, which had updated them to reflect the new job holders.

“This is the same procedure we followed during the last presidential transition,” he wrote in a statement.

The beads bear the names Potus, meaning “president of the United States,” as well as Vice President and Flotus, an acronym for the first lady.

Archived versions of the pages show that the Potus and Flotus accounts previously carried the name and official portrait of Joe Biden and Jill Biden, respectively.

Stone added that “follow and unfollow requests may take some time to process as these accounts change hands.”

Trump assumed the presidency of the United States for the second time on Monday and quickly set about issuing a series of executive orders and directives affirming his political agenda, ranging from withdraw from the World Health Organization until declaring a national emergency on the border with Mexico.

At its inauguration attended some of the most influential tech billionairesincluding Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg and X boss Elon Musk, who also has an advisory role in the new administration.

Trump has sharply criticized Meta, banning him in 2021 for what he described as his “praise for people involved in violence” during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The president and his allies also accused the company of cooperating with the Biden administration to suppress reports about allegations about Biden’s son, Hunter, and some content related to the Covid pandemic. Mr. Zuckerberg He said he regretted the decision..

In August, Trump wrote in a book that Zuckerberg would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he tried to interfere in the 2024 presidential election.

However, since Trump’s election victory in early November, Zuckerberg appears to have ingratiated himself with him. dining with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence at the end of the month and donating $1 million (£786,000) towards his inauguration a few weeks later.

Meta also said earlier this month that it would end third-party fact-checking in favor of an approach similar to X’s community notes, in an apparent attempt to address some of Trump’s previous criticism.

The company said this marked a return to its “fundamental commitment to free expression.”