The No Kings movement is demanding a formal explanation from Meta after its Instagram account went dark for several hours while protests focused on increasing early voter turnout were underway. The sudden disappearance of the account sparked immediate fears of censorship among organizers.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone addressed the incident on X, attributing the outage to an automated error. "Unfortunately, that automated action was clearly taken in error," Stone wrote. "Everything is now working as it should and we sincerely apologize."
The No Kings Coalition remained skeptical of the explanation that high-frequency posting triggered the automated response. In a post on their Instagram page on Sunday, the group stated: "We have regained access to our accounts, but Meta still owes us an explanation. Restricting communications about voting in the middle of an election is unacceptable." Organizers noted that members had only posted a handful of times and livestreamed to thousands of viewers.
Senator Bernie Sanders also expressed concerns on Sunday via X, suggesting that "billionaire ownership of the media" had resulted in the suspension of the No Kings account.
Despite the technical disruption, hundreds of planned events continued across the country. At the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, a band played for a few hundred people in coats and caps, many of whom held signs reading "VOTE EARLY" and "HANDS OFF MY VOTE!" In Atlanta, city councilman Michael Julian Bond urged the crowd to use their constitutional power to vote. Meanwhile, in downtown Los Angeles, protesters marched in sweltering heat with a band on a rolling stage, cheering for the abolition of ICE and the passage of a California billionaire tax.
The No Kings movement, which began last summer, addresses concerns regarding federal layoffs, immigration enforcement, and foreign wars. The group’s current focus on midterm elections is driven by the Supreme Court’s gutting of the Voting Rights Act and fears that Donald Trump may baselessly call election results into question. Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the progressive group Indivisible, previously stated that organizers planned to recruit volunteers at Saturday’s events to mobilize in case of "election sabotage."
