Meta said Saturday that an automatic trigger is to blame for the No Kings movement’s Instagram account being suspended in the midst of a nationwide effort to mobilize early voting in the midterms.
The network, which bills itself as nonpartisan but arose last year in response to President Donald Trump’s actions, said its account went dark for “several hours” at the peak of its event.
“Even after visibility was restored, we had no access to the account for hours,” the group posted on its account.
In a statement on X, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said that accounts posting, sharing, or commenting at “very high frequencies” can prompt an automated response.
“That’s what happened with the No Kings IG account in the lead up to today’s day of action. Unfortunately, that automated action was clearly taken in error,” he said in an X post.
“Everything is now working as it should and we sincerely apologize.”
No Kings said it wants a deeper explanation from Meta. “Restricting communications about voting in the middle of an election is unacceptable,” it said in its post.
“Meta must answer for this suspension and take immediate steps to ensure it never happens again — to any account, but especially those working to inform voters and encourage participation in our democracy.”
The group said it held nearly 3,000 rallies across the country to encourage voters to cast their ballots early as a hedge against any effort to undermine turnout in an election that will determine the balance of power in Congress.
