Tucker Carlson has over 3.7 million followers.
InstagramHe has nearly 13 million followers on X. While his following is likely much higher on X, the platform where Carlson regularly uploads episodes of his show and where there is ostensibly less censorship, there may be another reason that explains the difference.
Ashton DeGroot, social media content coordinator for Blaze Media, said Monday that following Carlson on the meta platform has never been easy.
A random search for Carlson didn’t bring up any verified accounts; instead, the results were flooded with impersonator and fan accounts. After a few tries, it became clear that Carlson’s verified account only showed up if you typed his exact handle, @TuckerCarlson, into the search bar.
When DeGroot found Carlson’s account, he realized that Instagram was putting up one last barrier to engagement, making potential followers think twice.
The popup says, “Are you sure you want to follow tuckercarlson?”
“This account has repeatedly posted false information that has been verified by independent fact-checkers or that violates our Community Guidelines,” the pop-up adds.
The BlazeNews did not encounter similar warning messages when it test tracked the accounts of various liberal figures and publications found to be spreading false or fabricated stories.
“Luckily, people are aware of this.”
For example, this question has not been posed to Newsweek’s potential followers, despite the magazine’s tenuous relationship with the truth: Last month, Newsweek falsely reported that Tucker Carlson had partnered with a Russian state-run news channel, when in fact the magazine had stolen Carlson’s footage without legal permission.
Users would similarly not encounter the warning if they tried to follow Jussie Smollett, who continued to lie about being attacked by Trump supporters in Chicago but in fact paid two Nigerian-born brothers to stage a fake hate crime.
“I’ve never seen this warning before,” DeGroot told The Blaze News. “I was following a lot of people. [a Blaze Media account]Of the 100+ people I follow, Tucker was the only one to bring this up.”
The screenshot was taken on June 24, 2024.
Asked to comment on Instagram’s apparent suppression efforts, Neil Patel, co-founder and CEO of the Tucker Carlson Network, told Blaze News, “Tucker has one of the largest audiences in media. Millions of people trust him because they know he’s doing his best to tell the truth.”
“This combination of size and independence is a serious threat to established power,” Patel continued. “It’s the only reason people can’t access Tucker Carlson’s birthday post on Instagram without some insane caveat emptor.”
“Luckily, people are aware of this,” Patel added, completely avoiding “the censorship of big tech companies” like Instagram.
Tucker Carlson’s website.
DeGroot similarly believes Instagram’s attempt to discourage people from listening to Carlson will antagonize people who are already familiar with him, but “for those who are undecided, this could be an effective way to alienate them.”
“Today it’s Tucker, tomorrow it’s Blaze Media.”
“After all, this is Glen [Beck] I’ve been saying this for years: the left is pushing conservative voices out of the public sphere.
Digital Ghetto“We’re seeing it now with this. You’re not going to encounter Tucker content, and at some point you’re not going to encounter Blaze Media content, because it goes against the approved narrative and it makes life harder for those in power when more people listen to what we have to say.”
“As someone who works in social media and has seen weekly, sometimes daily, changes happening within Meta as the election approaches, I can confidently say this is just the beginning of silencing conservative voices,” DeGroot said. “Today it’s Tucker, tomorrow it’s Blaze Media. That’s why we’re asking our listeners to become subscribers, which gives you direct access to our content, without the middleman getting in the way, for now.”
The Blaze News reached out to Facebook for comment on the false information Carlson allegedly shared and details about the guidelines he allegedly violated that led to the pop-up warnings appearing on his account. The Blaze also asked about the effectiveness of these throttling measures but did not receive a response by deadline.
This is not the first time Instagram or its parent company has falsely positioned Carlson as a spreader of falsehoods.
While still at Fox News in 2020, Carlson interviewed Chinese virologist Li-Meng Yang, suggesting that COVID-19 “did not come from nature.” While the federal government has since acknowledged that the virus was likely created in a lab, specifically in Wuhan, where a researcher fell ill while risking coronavirus experiments in late 2019, he continued to deny the allegations on Instagram.
Quickly To label Carlson’s interview as “false information” on its platform.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censorship and sign up for our newsletter to get stories like this one directly to your inbox. Register here!
