‘Delete Instagram’ push erupts in wake of Zuckerberg’s Meta policy changes
Whenever Meta is embroiled in controversy, people rush to boycott Facebook. But its other flagship property, Instagram, often seems to dodge the backlash.
Whether it was Meta suspending President-elect Donald Trump's accounts in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, numerous data privacy scandals, or the high-profile congressional hearing in 2021 in which a whistleblower testified that Meta was prioritizing profit over people, people don't want to give up their images.
But that era of Instagram, and its subsite Threads, escaping with little to no backlash may be coming to an end, with left-wingers firmly pledging to ditch all Meta platforms.
Those pledges come in the wake of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcing a number of changes to content moderation on its platforms: including ending third-party fact-checking, opting instead for X's style of community notes; lifting a number of content restrictions on topics like gender and immigration; and relocating its trust and safety teams from California to Texas, so they’d be "in places where there is less concern about the bias."
Zuckerberg also said he'd work with the incoming Trump administration to fight back against other governments' restrictions on online free speech.
The shifts have been dubbed by some commentators as part of an effort "to curry favor" with President-elect Donald Trump (though they've done little to win over MAGA fans skeptical of his motives).
Users on Bluesky—the social media platform dominated by left-wing users, many of whom fled X following Elon Musk's efforts in the 2024 election—are having none of it.
"Deleting my Facebook and Instagram. F*** all these c****," blasted one person.
Another commenter posted screenshots confirming he had ditched both his Facebook and Instagram accounts.
"Effective immediately, I am suspending all activity on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. I have archived all my Instagram posts. I will delete my Facebook pages and WhatsApp channels," posted one Bluesky user. "As I did with Twitter, I will not lend my credibility to platforms that openly welcome hate speech."
"I think it's time I delete my Instagram account," concluded another person.
Others reminded those considering deleting Facebook in protest to also delete their other accounts affiliated with Meta.
"For those of you deleting Facebook to protest Zuckerberg, please note that Meta also owns Instagram and Whatsapp," said writer Wajahat Ali.
"Delete Facebook. Delete Instagram. Delete WhatsApp," advocated the account Gays of Bluesky in response to Meta's changes permitting users to say gay and trans people have "mental illness."
"If you haven’t yet deleted all META-owned social media, Zuckerberg (so jealous of rocket boy) just gave you another reason: an X-like, mass-manipulation of fact checking," stated someone else. "Delete Facebook. Delete Instagram. Delete Threads."
On Threads, Zuckerberg's Twitter-like platform launched in 2023, many users pushed a migration to Bluesky—similar to the exodus X saw post-Musk takeover.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the term "Bluesky" was trending, with more than 24,000 posts about it.
"I left Facebook years ago, and, I suppose inevitably, Zuckerberg's enshittification of everything he touches is making it morally impossible for me to use this service as well," reads one popular Threads post. "You can find me at Bluesky, which has no algorithm forced on you to screw up your experience, freely allows outside linking, and more."
"I'm not sacrificing my mental health for Zuck's ego. Find me on BlueSky," posted someone else.
"You have ungodly wealth and you’re certainly free to do what you wish with your company," one person said in response to Zuckerberg's announcement. "But—the rest of us have free will too. Based on this [Zuckerberg] thread, I’ll be opening my Bluesky account today and phasing out my Threads account."
Actress Mia Farrow similarly revealed that she too would be ditching her Threads account.
"A good day to delete my Threads account. ( im not on facebook)," she posted on Bluesky.
Another post on Bluesky showing someone's confirmation of deleting their Threads account racked up more than 13,000 likes, with many users voicing that they made the switch from Threads to Bluesky.
Replied one person: "Yep. Threads, facebook and Instagram all GONE."
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
The post ‘Delete Instagram’ push erupts in wake of Zuckerberg’s Meta policy changes appeared first on The Daily Dot.