MS NOW was halted for breaking news this weekend as the channel shared a major update about the No Kings Coalition.
Journalist Antonia Hylton, 33, informed viewers that administrators lost access to the official No Kings Instagram account “at the peak of their National Day of Action.” The reporter said on the news channel, “We have some breaking news as we follow No Kings protests nationwide. A spokesperson for No Kings says the main accounts for the coalition on Instagram were frozen and pulled down, and the administrators lost access to the account at the peak of their National Day of Action.
“They say this happened at about 1.30pm Eastern.” It comes after President Donald Trump was surrounded by Secret Service after being heckled by a protester at a rally in Dalton, Georgia, on Friday, October 16.
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Sharing further details on the Instagram incident, No Kings organizer Ezra Levin told MeidasTouch, “In the middle of that joyful experience at the protest locally, I got word from my team that Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta had suspended the Instagram account for the No Kings Coalition. They suspended it. We didn’t have access to it. We couldn’t post to it. Nobody could go to the page.”
Journalist Antonia Hylton revealed that administrators lost access to the official No Kings Coalition Instagram account -Credit:MS NOW
He added, “That was for about an hour-and-a-half, during the height of the mobilization while people were still getting their No Kings protests together. As I talk to you, there are people still pulling their No Kings protests together, but we can’t access the account now.”
In a statement, Meta’s communications officer Any Stone said the account was suspended by mistake. “When accounts post, share or comment at very high frequencies it can trigger automated systems,” he tweeted.
Administrators lost access to the Instagram account during Saturday’s protests -Credit:@50501movement/Instagram
“That’s what happened with the No Kings IG account in the lead up to today’s day of action. Unfortunately, that automated action was clearly taken in error. Everything is now working as it should and we sincerely apologize.”
However, critics on social media accused Meta of actively trying to block the account from posting. “Doesn’t take hours to restore. You’re a liar,” a person commented under Stone’s tweet.
Demonstrators hold large signs during the No Kings: Vote Early rally in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 17 -Credit:Charles-McClintock Wilson/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
“Election interference, very likely in cahoots with the White House. Unacceptable. META is actively conspiring against democracy in America,” another said.
A third wrote, “Complete bs. Look forward to hearings and accountability. No one trust Meta!” Someone else added, “Nah, everyone knows that Meta was suppressing the No Kings info to curry favor with Trump, like y’all did in Brazil.”
“Y’all have to do better than this post. This is a pathetic reasoning,” one more wrote. On Saturday, October 17, the coalition shifted its strategy from just “sending a message” to active electoral participation, hosting a Nationwide Day of Action.
Organizers coordinated nearly 3,000 hyperlocal voter events and rallies. The central objective is to bypass voter intimidation, counteract election interference, and drive unprecedented voter turnout ahead of the upcoming midterm elections – making the results “simply too big to rig.”
While major rallies took place at locations like the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., much of the day relied on communal, community-level activities like block parties, cookouts, voter registration tables, and coordinated “poll walks” to ensure neighbors could cast early ballots safely as a group.
In about half of US states where early voting is active, the focus was getting people straight to the polls. In states without in-person early voting – like New Hampshire, Alabama, and Mississippi – demonstrations focused on helping citizens build a strict Election Day plan.