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Meta Rejects Claims It Made Users Follow Trump’s Accounts

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Meta Rejects Claims It Made Users Follow Trump's Accounts

Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, has denied claims that it made users follow the social media accounts of top officials in Donald Trump’s new administration without their consent.

After Trump was inaugurated on Monday, some people said that their accounts suddenly started following the new president, Vice-President JD Vance, and First Lady Melania Trump.

Andy Stone, a spokesperson for Meta, said that the accounts are managed by the White House and were simply updated to show the new officials. He explained, “This is what we always do when there is a new president.”

The accounts, labeled Potus (President of the United States), VicePresident, and Flotus (First Lady of the United States), used to show Joe Biden and Jill Biden’s names and pictures. Stone mentioned that it might take a while for the system to process if people want to follow or unfollow these accounts as they change to new owners.

Trump, who is president for the second time, attended his inauguration along with some big names in technology, including Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Elon Musk of X, who also advises the administration.

Trump has criticized Meta in the past and was banned from the platform in 2021 for supporting violence during the January 6 Capitol riots. Despite past tensions, Trump and Zuckerberg seem to be on better terms now; Zuckerberg recently visited Trump and donated $1 million to his inauguration.

Meta also decided recently to stop using third-party fact-checkers and instead will let the community flag false information, similar to what X does. This change, according to Meta, is a move back to prioritizing “free expression.”

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