Did Meta automatically follow Donald Trump on your behalf? The company says no

A 3D printed logo of Meta placed on laptop keyboard in this illustration taken on November 2, 2021. (Reuters: Dado Ruvic/File Photo)

Have you suddenly found yourself following Donald Trump on Facebook or Instagram?

Some users of Meta's platforms say their accounts were made to automatically follow the profiles of President Trump, Vice-President JD Vance and First Lady Melania Trump, following the inauguration this week.

Facebook to end fact checking and 'work with Trump' against censorship

Photo shows Mark Zuckerberg, standing on a stage, wearing a black t-shirt, talking at a company conference.

Mark Zuckerberg says fact checkers have been "too politically biased" and that community notes similar to those on X will be rolled out to platforms such as Facebook.

It comes after Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg ended the company's fact checking program and made a $US1 million donation to the presidential inauguration fund, leading some to suggest he was attempting to win favour with Mr Trump.

But Meta has denied any suggestion users are being forced to follow the profiles without their permission. 

The company says the confusion came when the accounts belonging to the official offices were rolled over from the Biden administration to the Trump administration. 

However, some users said that even after unfollowing the president, vice-president and first lady accounts, they found they were soon following those accounts again, in some cases after unfollowing more than once.

Here's what we know. 

Why do I suddenly follow Trump?

When a presidential administration changes, the official White House social media accounts roll over to the new elected officials.

The Facebook and Instagram accounts of the previous administration are archived and the posts, as well as followers, are preserved. 

That happened in 2017 and 2021, when Trump succeeded Barack Obama as president, and then when Joe Biden succeeded Trump.

"People were not made to automatically follow any of the official Facebook or Instagram accounts for the president, vice-president or first lady," Meta communications director Andy Stone wrote on X.

"Those accounts are managed by the White House so with a new administration, the content on those pages changes.

"It may take some time for follow and unfollow requests to go through as these accounts change hands," Mr Stone offered as an explanation on Threads.

Others reported they were also following first lady Melania Trump without choosing to do so.

"Why did my Facebook automatically start following Melania Trump this (morning)? What are you doing?" actor and comedian Sarah Colonna said on Threads on Tuesday, tagging Zuckerberg in her post.

The White House did not immediately respond to the Associated Press' request for comment.

Account users report re-follows

But some users reported that they had begun following government accounts after repeatedly deleting them. 

"I, like others, repeatedly unfollowed Trump and Vance on Monday, only to discover that I was following them again," said Facebook user Anna Springer on Threads, which is also owned by Meta.

"Not sure if it was just a glitch or something intentional, but it definitely happened."

American singer Demi Lovato posted a photo to her Instagram story of her following the vice-president. 

"I have unfollowed this guy twice today," she wrote to her 150 million followers.

Read more on US politics:

• Analysis: Donald Trump's toughest opposition is emerging outside Washington
• Why Donald Trump pardoned the Silk Road creator a decade after his life imprisonment
• Can Trump take back control and rename the Panama Canal
• You might be following Trump on social media without meaning to
• Key moments from Donald Trump's return

What is happening with the ability to search hashtags?

There have been other accusations levelled at Meta by social media users this week. 

Some social media users are reporting that results for tags relating to left-wing political content on Instagram and Facebook are being hidden because they relate to sensitive content. 

Several US publications, including CNN, Forbes and NBC, are reporting that users were met with a page that read "we've hidden these results" when searching hashtags such as #democrat, #biden or #harris. 

In a response to the ABC's request for comment, a spokesperson confirmed Meta is aware of an issue affecting people’s ability to search for a number of different hashtags on Instagram. 

But that is affecting a "number of different hashtags on Instagram — not just those on the left", they said, without providing examples of those other hashtags.

ABC/wires