Meta suspends No Kings protest movement's Instagram account for several hours

The Instagram account of No Kings, a US pro-democracy protest movement, went dark for several hours on Saturday, October 17, while demonstrations encouraging early voting were under way across the country. The suspension prompted censorship fears as the US midterm elections approach.

Meta, the company that owns Instagram, later apologized. Spokesperson Andy Stone wrote on X that the account was hit by an automated action triggered when accounts post, share or comment at very high frequencies, and that it was taken in error. He said everything was working normally again.

Organizers demand answers

The No Kings Coalition said on Sunday that access had been restored but that Meta still owed an explanation. It argued that restricting communication about voting in the middle of an election is unacceptable. Organizers doubted the high-frequency explanation, saying members posted only a handful of times and livestreamed to thousands of viewers.

Senator Bernie Sanders said on X on Sunday that "billionaire ownership of the media" had led to the suspension.

Events went ahead

Despite the glitch, hundreds of planned events continued. At the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, a band played for a few hundred people, and many held signs reading "VOTE EARLY" and "HANDS OFF MY VOTE!" In Atlanta, city councilman Michael Julian Bond urged the crowd to use their vote. In downtown Los Angeles, protesters marched in sweltering heat, calling for the abolition of ICE, the immigration enforcement agency, and for passage of California's billionaire tax, the New York Times reported.

No Kings began last summer in response to concerns over federal layoffs, immigration enforcement and foreign wars. This year's focus on voting is partly due to the Supreme Court's gutting of the Voting Rights Act, as well as fears that Donald Trump could again baselessly question election results. Organizers plan to recruit volunteers to mobilize in case of "election sabotage".