On its platform, Instagram has carried out a large cleanup operation that removed millions of fake, spam, and inactive accounts. Many users around the world suddenly noticed drops in their follower counts as a result.
The cleanup appears to be part of ongoing efforts by Meta. This step is taken to ensure the authenticity of the platform. Instagram regularly removes suspicious or inactive accounts. However, this latest removal was much larger and more noticeable than usual, as both ordinary users and famous influencers were affected.
However, many people initially thought there was a technical issue or a mass unfollowing campaign. But reports later suggested that the drops mainly came from deleted bot accounts, spam profiles, and users who had been inactive for a long time.
Some influencers lost hundreds or even millions of followers almost overnight. An influencer reported that said she lost around 300 followers shortly after reaching 11,000 followers, despite making no changes to her content.
Additionally, celebrities such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were also reported to have lost millions of followers during the cleanup.
Instagram’s goal is to ensure that follower counts reflect real users instead of fake or inactive accounts. This also affects how content is promoted and ranked on the platform.
Some users supported the cleanup because it removes fake engagement and spam. However, others criticised the removal of inactive accounts, arguing that some profiles belong to deceased users and serve as memorial spaces for family and friends.
Instagram already offers a memorialisation feature that can preserve accounts after a person’s death, but not all inactive accounts are protected this way.
Overall, experts say the change is meant to create a safer platform, even if it temporarily reduces follower numbers for many users.
Earlier, Meta had committed that full encryption would be expanded across Facebook Messenger and Instagram. The rollout was completed with Messenger in 2023 and it was expected that Instagram would follow.
However, after several years of development, the company has decided to step back from its plan.
Child Safety organisations have welcomed this decision. According to them access to direct messages will help identify abuse and exploitation cases as soon as possible.
However, the decision has also been heavily criticised by privacy campaigners.
Messaging services will continue to be offered by Instagram. However, the highest level of encryption that is used to ensure the privacy of users will not be available.
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