Small and large accounts affected as Instagram cleans up spam and fake engagement

Last updated: May 07, 2026 | 13:47

Influencers and users see sudden drops as Instagram removes bots and inactive accounts. Pixabay

Dubai: Instagram has removed millions of followers from accounts across the platform as part of an ongoing cleanup of bot and inactive profiles, leading to sudden drops in follower counts for users globally.

The change appears to be linked to Meta’s continued efforts to improve account authenticity by identifying and deleting spam accounts, fake profiles, and long-inactive users.

While Instagram regularly carries out such cleanups, this latest round has been more noticeable because of its scale, with some accounts seeing significant reductions almost overnight.

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The impact has been visible across different types of accounts, including public figures and influencers who rely heavily on follower metrics.…