House Democrats are demanding answers from Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg after Instagram temporarily suspended the main No Kings account as Americans participated in thousands of local rallies nationwide. The account went down for more than an hour on Oct. 17, while organizers said they remained locked out for several additional hours.

Reps. Robert Garcia of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland sent Zuckerberg a joint letter seeking a briefing about the incident and Meta’s election security efforts. Garcia is the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, while Raskin holds that role on the House Judiciary Committee.

The lawmakers called the suspension an “apparent” act of “corporate censorship of political speech” that raised serious concerns about Meta’s commitment to free and fair elections. Their letter, obtained first by MS NOW, requested a briefing no later than Nov. 9.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone apologized after the incident and said the suspension was “incorrect.” He attributed it to an “automated” enforcement action triggered when accounts post, share or comment at very high frequencies.

Stone said that pattern activated Meta’s automated systems as the No Kings account prepared for the day of action. “Unfortunately, that automated action was clearly taken in error,” Stone said.

Garcia and Raskin were not exactly eager to accept that explanation at face value. They wrote that Meta’s account strained “public credulity” and suggested the suspension belonged to a broader pattern involving political content on the company’s platforms.

“Technical glitches occur,” Garcia and Raskin wrote, “but at Meta they are happening frequently and, curiously, seem to disproportionately impact the political opponents of President Trump and his authoritarian political alliances.”

The lawmakers pointed to accusations involving Brazil’s presidential election, including claims that Meta “choked off” content favoring Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. They said the company simultaneously allowed “pro-right-wing ads and deepfakes” supporting Trump’s preferred candidate, Flávio Bolsonaro, to continue spreading.

Lula’s campaign took Meta to court and accused the company of deploying biased algorithms. Meta denied acting with political bias and published a blog post seeking to explain what had happened.

Garcia and Raskin also cited reports that Instagram accounts used by Albanian activists and journalists were disabled during protests against a hotel project connected to Trump’s son in law, Jared Kushner. Raskin and House Judiciary Democrats had expanded their investigation of Kushner’s business practices in August to include that project.

The letter further argued that Zuckerberg and Meta have financial reasons to keep the White House and Trump’s team happy. The Democrats cited the company’s multimillion dollar donation to the East Wing ballroom project and Zuckerberg’s attendance at the UFC fight on the White House lawn.

According to Garcia and Raskin, Meta stands to make “billions of dollars in government contracts and data center incentives from working with the Trump Administration.” They added, “And you personally stand to benefit greatly from taking actions that win you additional support from President Trump and his Administration.”

When contacted about the Democrats’ letter, a Meta spokesperson directed MS NOW back to the company’s earlier explanation of the No Kings suspension. The spokesperson’s social media feed also showed that Meta’s technical problems have affected figures beyond the political left.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, and firearm manufacturer Smith & Wesson were among those that experienced platform issues during the past few years. Still, Garcia and Raskin’s letter centered on recent incidents that they said affected Trump’s political opponents and critics.

The first No Kings protests took place in June 2025 and sought to denounce Trump’s actions after his return to the White House. Additional protest days were organized during the following year and a half, with the earlier demonstrations drawing millions nationwide and being considered among the largest single day protests in United States history.

The Oct. 17 event occurred less than three weeks before Election Day and focused on encouraging early voting. That timing sharpened the lawmakers’ concerns about election security and left Zuckerberg facing a straightforward demand from two senior House Democrats: explain what happened.