Meta apologises for ‘No Kings’ Instagram blackout as organisers demand answers

WASHINGTON – Meta apologised for suspending the Instagram account of the “No Kings” protest movement over the weekend, attributing the shutdown to a sharp increase in activity that looked like automated bot traffic rather than human exchanges.

Demonstrators gathered at thousands of events across the United States on Oct 17 decrying President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation efforts, war in Iran and other policies in the third round of the “No Kings” rallies.

The Instagram account used by organisers and attendees, however, was offline for more than an hour. Meta spokesman Andy Stone wrote in a post on X that it took longer to fix problems with organisers’ access to the accounts.

Stone said network security systems detected the use of a Claude tool reading profiles, posts and hashtags, with the rate sharply increasing in intense bursts on Oct 17.

“These abrupt, high-volume, sequential requests in a short period resembled automated bot traffic rather than an ordinary human browsing our systems. This activity caused our automated protections to incorrectly take the No Kings Instagram account offline,” he said.

“We want to reiterate our sincere apology for the error,” said Stone.

Rally organisers were not satisfied on Oct 19.

“Meta’s explanation still doesn’t add up,” the No Kings Coalition said on the Bluesky platform. “Beyond shutting down our Instagram, we’ve received reports that NoKings and early voting content was inaccessible, restricted or seemed suppressed across Meta platforms.”

“Weeks before an election, an apology isn’t enough. The public needs answers, accountability and concrete safeguards,” the coalition said.

“No Kings” rallies took place in cities from Seattle and San Diego to Chicago, Atlanta and New York.

In Washington, D.C., protesters gathered at the site of Trump’s proposed triumphal arch to encourage early voting before the Nov 3 midterm congressional elections. REUTERS