Social Media Users Slam Meta For Censorship After Wooing Trump

Meta, which has publicly committed to renouncing censorship, has found itself at the center of a censorship controversy.

Instagram users inside and outside the U.S. discovered this week that searches for “#democrat” were blocked.

Instagram users inside and outside the U.S. discovered this week that searches for “#democrat” were blocked, David Meyer reported for Data Sheet of Fortune. However, searches for “#republican” were not blocked.

Searches for terms such as “#Project2025”—the right-wing blueprint for President Trump’s second term—were also restricted. In each case, Instagram claimed it had hidden the results because they “may contain sensitive content.”

Given Meta’s recent efforts to ingratiate itself with Trump, many social media users were understandably outraged. However, the company insists it was all a mistake.

“We’re aware of an error affecting hashtags across the political spectrum, and we are working quickly to resolve it,” Meta told BBC News.

The BBC also revealed that searches for “#republicans” (in the plural) were similarly blocked.

The issue appeared to be clearing up by yesterday, but even if it was merely a technical glitch, the incident highlights the reputational risks that social media companies aligned with Trump may face over the next four years.