Following the inauguration of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, numerous users on Facebook and Instagram reported confusion upon discovering they were automatically following the newly switched accounts of these officials. This situation has ignited discussions across social media platforms, as many users believed they had unfollowed the accounts previously.

According to AP News, this automatic follow is due to a standard procedure where the official accounts for the President, Vice President, and First Lady are transitioned to the new administration when a new president takes office. The previous accounts of the Biden administration are archived, but their followers are transferred to the new administration’s accounts.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone clarified in various posts that users were not compulsorily made to follow the new accounts and that the accounts were managed by the White House. Stone explained that once the new administration takes over, the content on those official pages changes, but the followers remain intact. "This is the same procedure we followed during the last presidential transition,” he noted, as reported by HuffPost.

Despite these reassurances from Meta, feelings of confusion and frustration persisted among users. Some expressed that even after attempting to unfollow the accounts multiple times, they found themselves automatically following them again, a sentiment echoed by users on Twitter and Instagram. One user stated, “I, like others, repeatedly unfollowed Trump and Vance, only to discover that I was following them again,” pointing towards potential glitches in the platform as reported by The Hill.

Moreover, the online uproar has been heightened as Meta faced scrutiny not just for the re-following issue but also for its responses to users reporting glitches in hashtag searches relevant to political topics. Meta has stated these are not isolated problems and they're actively working to address various issues impacting user experience across their platforms, as noted by ABC News.

This incident follows a tumultuous period for Meta, where many have criticized the platform for handling political discourse and the perceived biases involved in its operations. Critics have claimed that recent changes in fact-checking policies were designed to cater to Trump’s preferences, further complicating the dialogue around user trust in the platform.

For users wanting to avoid updates from the Trump administration, Meta suggests using the unfollow or block options available on the accounts. However, they advise that the transition may take time to fully process.

For more updates, follow the stories covered by Time.