No Kings says Meta does not plan to change policy — Ars Technica

In the United States, the No Kings coalition said that Meta representatives stated at an October 30 meeting that they had no plans to change a policy that, in the coalition’s view, may cause excessive automated account restrictions. Earlier, Instagram temporarily suspended the No Kings account and denied its administrators access for four hours during the coalition’s early-voting campaign. Ars Technica reports.

Meta’s explanation

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone explained that the account used a Claude-based tool to read profiles, posts, and hashtags. The system interpreted sharp spikes in activity as bot behavior. According to him, the automated review detected the error in less than an hour, but additional procedures delayed the restoration of administrators’ access.

The No Kings social media team said it used Claude as a tool for searching keywords and hashtags to track discussions on social media. Meta offered to arrange a meeting with a technical specialist who could explain the error. However, the coalition rejected the offer, saying that the response did not resolve its questions, and asked for a meeting with the company’s senior leadership.

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Requests from officials

A coalition of 14 state attorneys general asked Meta to explain the suspension in greater detail. By October 29, the officials requested that the company outline an action plan to ensure that lawful election activity on its platforms would not face disruptions. Similar requests were also sent to Meta by Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen and Representatives Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin.

No Kings asked Meta to disclose any communications with President Donald Trump’s administration regarding the coalition’s account or the early-voting event. At the same time, Ars Technica found no evidence that the Trump administration asked Meta to restrict the account or that company employees deliberately acted for political reasons.

Protecting election content

David Greene, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, called Meta’s technical explanation incomplete. He suggested introducing human review of election content or creating emergency support channels for quickly appealing automated restrictions. No Kings emphasizes that uninterrupted access to social platforms is important for sharing voting information and coordinating campaigns.