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As we settle into the second term of President Trump, it’s becoming increasingly clear that this administration is poised to be even more unhinged than the first in every conceivable way. Unlike his first term, President Trump has surrounded himself exclusively with sycophants, and their intrusion into our daily lives is already taking shape in the most trivial and unsettling ways — like the apparent campaign to force people to secretly follow the new Vice President, J.D. Vance, on Instagram.
Never one to hold back, Trump openly mocked Mark Zuckerberg on the campaign trail, calling him “weird” and claiming Zuckerberg “kissed his ass” during a dinner they once shared. So it’s no surprise that Zuckerberg now appears to be groveling to the new regime by allegedly inflating follower counts for members of the administration through questionable tactics. This comes just weeks after Zuckerberg pledged to end fact-checking on Meta platforms, citing a need to “prioritize speech.” It’s clear that Zuckerberg is doing everything in his power to stay in Trump’s good graces, and while his actions may seem somewhat pathetic, they’re hardly different from those of his peers.
At Trump’s inauguration, tech billionaires like Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos sat in the front row — a glaring display of crony capitalism. The arrangement between the government and this “broligarchy” has never been more blatant: the tech giants are allowed to push boundaries unchecked in exchange for bolstering the administration’s propaganda machine.
Reports have already started surfacing that the number of J.D. Vance’s social media followers skyrocketed overnight, jumping from 9 million to 17 million in a single day.
Celebrities like Demi Lovato were among the first to raise the alarm, with Lovato sharing on her Instagram Stories that she had to unfollow Vance twice in one day, calling out Meta for its “shady f***ing business.”
Users from around the globe, including Australia, reported suddenly finding themselves following J.D. Vance without consent. Others noticed similar patterns on Facebook, with forced follows for both Trump and Vance becoming a widespread issue.
This orchestrated inflation of public adulation underscores a deeper problem: as long as the billionaires keep stroking the egos of those in power, they might seemingly be granted a free pass to sidestep regulations and accountability. This collusion reflects a government willing to let its checks and balances erode in favor of unchecked corporate growth — so long as the corporations serve the administration’s image.
Public vigilance is essential because these tactics thrive in apathy. If people accept something as seemingly trivial as being forced to follow political figures, it sets a precedent for even greater impositions down the line. It’s striking that, despite amassing immense power and wealth, these individuals still feel the need to fabricate public adoration to secure their positions.
Trump ran on a platform of “giving power back to the people,” and while he’s a known liar, instances like this present an opportunity to hold him accountable to his own rhetoric. It’s a daunting task, given that accountability is something Trump has spent his entire life evading. Social media manipulation, in any form, should have no place in society.