Outrage after Meta suspends No Kings Instagram account during protests
‘Meta owes us an explanation,’ group says as organizers fear censorship after account goes dark for several hours The coalition leaders behind nationwide pro-democracy protests that have drawn millions of Americans to the streets in recent years were frustrated when its Instagram account was temporarily shut down during its latest demonstration on Saturday. The No Kings movement’s account went dark for several hours…
Key points
- Meta's Instagram account for the No Kings movement went dark for several hours during Saturday protests.
- Meta apologized and said an automated system wrongly flagged high-frequency activity as bot traffic.
- Organizers said they posted only a handful of times and demanded an explanation from Meta.
The Instagram account of the No Kings movement was temporarily suspended for several hours on Saturday while nationwide protests focused on early voter turnout were under way, prompting the coalition behind the demonstrations to demand an explanation from Meta.
Meta apologized the same day, saying an automated action had been taken in error. The company's spokesperson, Andy Stone, wrote on X that the account was restored and that the company sincerely apologized.
How Meta explained the suspension
Stone said a high volume of profile, post and hashtag reading in intense bursts on Saturday led Meta's AI tool to treat the activity as automated bot traffic. He said an automated re-review an hour later recognized the removal should not have happened and restored the account, though fixing admin access took additional time.
The No Kings Coalition said on Instagram on Sunday that it had regained access to its accounts but that Meta still owed it an explanation, calling restrictions on voting communications in the middle of an election unacceptable. Organizers said members posted only a handful of times and livestreamed to thousands.
We have regained access to our accounts, but Meta still owes us an explanation
— the No Kings Coalition
Reaction and protests continue
Senator Bernie Sanders said on X that billionaire ownership of the media had resulted in the suspension. Senator Chris Murphy called for an investigation, saying Meta's outsized influence warranted scrutiny.
Hundreds of planned events went ahead despite the suspension. At the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, a band played for a few hundred people holding signs reading VOTE EARLY, and in Atlanta city councilman Michael Julian Bond asked the crowd whether they would use their power to vote.
