Van Hollen, Colleagues Press Meta’s Zuckerberg for Answers After No Kings Coalition Account Shut Off in Middle of No Kings National Demonstrations

Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) are calling on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to answer questions on the temporary removal of the No Kings Coalition Instagram account in the middle of nationwide demonstrations organized by the group. The No Kings Day account was shut down and organizers were unable to access it as nearly three thousand events were held across the country where Americans expressed their support for democracy, the right to vote, and democratic institutions. The lawmakers begin , “We are writing to seek answers regarding the removal of the No Kings Coalition Instagram account in the middle of nationwide protest demonstrations organized by the group. On October 17, 2026, Americans from all around the country gathered together in political demonstrations expressing support for democracy, the right to vote, and our democratic institutions organized by the No Kings Coalition. The No Kings Coalition uses Instagram as one of their primary platforms for communicating with participants, the public, and for hosting livestreams of their events. During the middle of these nationwide demonstrations, the No Kings Coalition’s Instagram account was mysteriously made invisible to the public, and the administrators were not able to access their account. The shutdown of the public page lasted well over an hour. Making matters worse, the lockout that prevented the account holders from even accessing their own page stretched for hours after the public page was restored, restricting their ability to communicate with supporters and protesters during the demonstrations despite the page being live.” “We are especially troubled by Meta’s changing explanation for removing the account’s public visibility and the organizers' access during a nationally attended and well-publicized event. Andy Stone, Vice President of Communications at Meta, first shared that the account was shut down because very high frequencies of posting, sharing, or commenting triggered automated systems. The next day, Mr. Stone claimed that it had nothing to do with the account’s posting, sharing, or commenting but on their ‘reading’ behavior and the rate at which they were ‘reading profiles, posts, and hashtags’ on October 17. He also recognized that it ‘took additional time for [Meta] to straighten out the situation with admin access to the IG account.’ Not only are Meta’s shifting explanations alarming, the substance of the claims paint the picture that one of the largest social media companies in the world is somehow incapable of handling technical concerns about an account without shutting it down for hours,” they continue . Noting that this is not an isolated incident, the lawmakers note , “This is not the first time that Meta has experienced shutdowns or lapses around political speech leading up to the 2026 elections. In September, Ohio Democratic Senate nominee Sherrod Brown shared that a technical glitch with Facebook’s advertising platform caused about half of his campaign advertisements on the platform to be taken down for over a day without notice. Additionally, in Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was unable to boost his Instagram posts for almost 24 hours, while his opponent, who is known to be connected with the Trump Administration, was able to boost posts during the same time span.” “Furthermore, at a time when billionaires and big business, including Meta, are cozying up to the Trump Administration, we cannot ignore that it was a grassroots organization that is standing up to President Trump’s corruption that experienced this blackout. Meta’s close relationship with the Trump Administration is well documented. The company donated one million dollars to an inauguration fund for President Trump and five million dollars for Trump’s ballroom project. In settling a lawsuit, Meta also agreed to pay President Trump $25 million. The relationship between the Trump Administration, big business, and the media that these businesses run raises serious concerns over freedom of speech and the press,” the lawmakers conclude . Among other questions, the lawmakers ask the following: Did Meta or its representatives have any communication with the Trump Administration regarding No Kings or other pro-democracy protests? If so, who did you speak with and what did you discuss? Please provide all records of these interactions. As raised by Meta’s Oversight Board, why was the No Kings Coalition’s account not included in Meta's cross-check program? Was the decision to remove the No Kings Coalition account made by a human or by an automated process? How will you guarantee that accounts sharing critical election and civic information are not incorrectly shutdown in the future? What steps will Meta take between now and election day to ensure that accounts sharing this information are not taken offline without notice? The full text of the letter is available here and below. Dear Mr. Zuckerberg, We are writing to seek answers regarding the removal of the No Kings Coalition Instagram account in the middle of nationwide protest demonstrations organized by the group. On October 17, 2026, Americans from all around the country gathered together in political demonstrations expressing support for democracy, the right to vote, and our democratic institutions organized by the No Kings Coalition. The No Kings Coalition uses Instagram as one of their primary platforms for communicating with participants, the public, and for hosting livestreams of their events. During the middle of these nationwide demonstrations, the No Kings Coalition’s Instagram account was mysteriously made invisible to the public and the administrators were not able to access their account. The shutdown of the public page lasted well over an hour. Making matters worse, the lockout that prevented the account holders from even accessing their own page stretched for hours after the public page was restored, restricting their ability to communicate with supporters and protesters during the demonstrations despite the page being live. We are especially troubled by Meta’s changing explanation for removing the account’s public visibility and the organizers' access during a nationally attended and well-publicized event. Andy Stone, Vice President of Communications at Meta, first shared that the account was shut down because very high frequencies of posting, sharing, or commenting triggered automated systems. The next day, Mr. Stone claimed that it had nothing to do with the account’s posting, sharing, or commenting but on their “reading” behavior and the rate at which they were “reading profiles, posts, and hashtags” on October 17. He also recognized that it “took additional time for [Meta] to straighten out the situation with admin access to the IG account.” Not only are Meta’s shifting explanations alarming, the substance of the claims paint the picture that one of the largest social media companies in the world is somehow incapable of handling technical concerns about an account without shutting it down for hours. This is not the first time that Meta has experienced shutdowns or lapses around political speech leading up to the 2026 elections. In September, Ohio Democratic Senate nominee Sherrod Brown shared that a technical glitch with Facebook’s advertising platform caused about half of his campaign advertisements on the platform to be taken down for over a day without notice. Additionally, in Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was unable to boost his Instagram posts for almost 24 hours, while his opponent, who is known to be connected with the Trump Administration, was able to boost posts during the same time span. Meta’s own Oversight Board raised concerns over “recurring enforcement failures in Meta’s election integrity efforts.” Specifically, the Oversight Board argued that “the enforcement error regarding the No Kings account should have been caught by Meta's mistake-prevention systems. It remains unclear why Meta’s election integrity efforts did not lead to a much quicker resolution or why No Kings accounts were not included in Meta's cross-check program – which allows the company to designate important civic entities to ensure human review before a decision is made that could severely jeopardize participation in a significant political event.” As we approach the 2026 midterm elections, your company must ensure that critical information for voters is not censored. Furthermore, at a time when billionaires and big business, including Meta, are cozying up to the Trump Administration, we cannot ignore that it was a grassroots organization that is standing up to President Trump’s corruption that experienced this blackout. Meta’s close relationship with the Trump Administration is well documented. The company donated one million dollars to an inauguration fund for President Trump and five million dollars for Trump’s ballroom project. In settling a lawsuit, Meta also agreed to pay President Trump $25 million. The relationship between the Trump Administration, big business, and the media that these businesses run raises serious concerns over freedom of speech and the press. While the No Kings Coalition has regained access to their account, the public deserves answers to why the No Kings Coalition’s account was shut down in the middle of a national grassroots protest and how Meta will ensure that this will not happen again. Due to the time-sensitive nature of ensuring the availability of election and civic information, please respond to the following questions by October 29th, 2026: Did Meta or its representatives have any communication with the Trump Administration regarding No Kings or other pro-democracy protests? If so, who did you speak with and what did you discuss? Please provide all records of these interactions. As raised by Meta’s Oversight Board, why was the No Kings Coalition’s account not included in Meta's cross-check program? After an issue with the account was discovered, why did resolution not occur more quickly? Was the decision to remove the No Kings Coalition account made by a human or by an automated process? Given the changing explanations for removing the No Kings page, what is the official position of Meta as to why the account was removed from public access and the account administrators were prevented from accessing the account? How will you guarantee that accounts sharing critical election and civic information are not incorrectly shutdown in the future? What steps will Meta take between now and election day to ensure that accounts sharing this information are not taken offline without notice?