Yesterday, October 17, 2026, Meta — parent of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Threads — knocked the No Kings organizing page off of Instagram (another of its platforms) at the height of No Kings' work to communicate what was going on and what was coming up at 3,000 early voting events across the U.S.
The take-down by Meta went on for hours. By the time the account was fully up and running again, the majority of No Kings rallies had ended.
This is not the first time Meta has interfered with the free flow of voter information. On Friday, October 16, 2026, Reuters reported that Meta employees have acknowledged that Instagram accounts for Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were hindered by restrictions during the election this year, and the platform recommended social media accounts of his challenger.
Back in the U.S. at 3:29p Eastern on October 17, Ezra Levin said: "Meta told us in their response email that they made a bad call."
U.S. Senator Chris Murphy called the disruption "Outrageous," posting over a screenshot of the empty No Kings Coalition "Vote Early" page: "Put this on the January investigation list."
Social reckoning indeed....
Sources
https://bsky.app/profile/ezralevin.bsky.social/post/3my3uu5lf3k2u
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/meta-employees-said-lulas-accounts-were-hindered-during-brazil-election-folha-2026-10-16/
https://bsky.app/profile/ezralevin.bsky.social/post/3my43atjmnc2p
https://bsky.app/profile/chrismurphyct.bsky.social/post/3my45bppr5k2n
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