Liberal users of Facebook and Instagram were in full panic mode after they realized they were following President Trump and Vice President JD Vance—without ever hitting the “follow” button. The incident sparked widespread alarm, with many accusing the platforms of forcing users to follow these accounts as part of a “propaganda machine.”
The panic begins: unexpected posts flood feeds
The confusion started right after Trump’s inauguration. Suddenly, social media feeds were filled with posts from the new administration, even from people who never followed Trump or Vance. The panic spread quickly, with some fearing this was a step toward losing their autonomy on Meta-owned platforms.
One user took to X, writing, “Wait, did Facebook auto-follow all of the new administration for Americans? I didn’t follow any of these pages. I barely use Facebook, but they were all at the top of my feed, and when I clicked through, it said I followed them?”
Another user on Instagram exclaimed, “Not only is Instagram forcing accounts to auto-follow the VP, but they’ve essentially stolen Kamala’s entire follower list. They have the same followers as Kamala, and people I know don’t want to follow him.”
“Believe it or not,” one more user said, “I realized today that I was following an account I never followed. The automatic follow is part of the propaganda machine social media has become. I’ll have to check daily to deal with this ridiculous unfollow battle.”
The simple truth: official government accounts
However, the real reason for the confusion was much simpler. Users had unknowingly followed official U.S. government accounts, which automatically update with each new administration. These accounts—such as those for the President, Vice President, and First Lady—are run by the White House and are passed from one administration to the next.
A Meta spokesperson, Andy Stone, clarified the situation in a post on Threads. He explained that, as part of the transition, the official government accounts retain their followers when they switch to the new administration. “This isn’t an ‘auto-follow’ in the way some people think,” he said. “When a new administration takes over, the accounts for the President and Vice President switch over, keeping the followers. It’s the same account, not a new one.”
Why the confusion? Archived posts and transition
The confusion intensified because the posts from the previous administration were archived, giving the impression that the account was starting from scratch. In reality, the account itself wasn’t deleted; it remained the same, which meant followers stayed intact.
Biden supporters unknowingly follow Trump
This left many Biden supporters in a bind. For example, as of Tuesday morning, Biden’s archived POTUS account on Facebook had 11 million followers, which was the same number Trump’s new POTUS account had. Many Biden supporters found themselves unknowingly following Trump.
The easy fix: just unfollow
The solution? It’s simple. Anyone can unfollow these accounts by clicking the ellipsis on the profile page and selecting “unfollow.” No need to panic.
So, what was really happening? Just the routine transfer of power on social media. The official U.S. government accounts change hands with each new administration, and followers are carried over. No need for conspiracy theories. Just a little confusion during the transition.
