Meta: Were sorry for banning No Kings Instagram account

Meta has formally apologized to the No Kings Coalition, a social justice movement responsible for recent protests, for blocking their Instagram account during a nationwide demonstration. The company stated that an incorrect enforcement action, caused by a surge of high-volume requests similar to bot traffic, led to the automatic blocking of the No Kings Instagram account.

The company's automated protections misidentified a tool accessing profiles, posts, and hashtags at a high frequency, resulting in the account being offline for approximately 90 minutes during crucial voter activations and demonstrations. The No Kings Coalition expressed concern over the inconvenience caused to their communication channel during such critical activities.

Meta has faced criticism for platform censorship in recent months, including accusations of suppressing content related to the Cornell sexual assault case and targeting reproductive health and LGBTQ accounts, despite claims of being shadow-banned or removed for unexplained violations. The company's recent decision to remove significant hateful conduct protections has also drawn criticism.