MUMBAI: Millions of Instagram followers vanished almost overnight on 6 and 7 May after Meta Platforms carried out a sweeping cleanup of fake, inactive and bot-driven accounts across Instagram.
The sudden drop in follower counts sparked panic among users, with many initially suspecting a glitch. Within hours, however, social media users had coined a name for the mass deletion exercise: the “Great Purge of 2026”.
The biggest names on the platform appeared to take the heaviest hit. Kylie Jenner reportedly lost between 14 million and 15 million followers, while Cristiano Ronaldo saw his count shrink by nearly 8 million. Even Instagram’s own official account dropped by around 9 million followers.
Other major accounts affected included Selena Gomez, who reportedly lost between 6 million and 7 million followers, Ariana Grande with roughly 7 million gone, and BTS, whose account also shed around 7 million followers. Taylor Swift reportedly lost close to 5 million followers during the purge.
Indian celebrities were not spared either. Virat Kohli and Priyanka Chopra were among those said to have seen significant declines, although exact figures were still unclear at the time of reporting.
According to Meta, the cleanup forms part of its ongoing effort to improve “platform integrity” by removing accounts that inflate engagement metrics artificially. The company said the exercise targeted bot accounts created through third-party follower-selling services, along with inactive profiles that had shown little or no activity for years.
The purge also highlighted a lesser-known side of internet fame: “ghost followers”. Social media analysts note that highly popular accounts naturally attract large numbers of bots attempting to blend into legitimate audiences, even when celebrities themselves have not purchased followers.
While A-list stars are unlikely to feel the financial impact, smaller creators and influencers reported losses ranging from 2 per cent to 5 per cent of their follower bases. For many creators, those numbers can directly influence brand partnerships, visibility and advertising rates.
The cleanup triggered debate across Threads and X, where some users claimed legitimate accounts had been mistakenly suspended during the sweep. Meta clarified that wrongly flagged accounts could be restored after verification, and any recovered profiles would automatically be added back to follower counts.
For now, the “Great Purge” has become a sharp reminder that social media popularity can sometimes be more smoke than substance. Behind even the world’s biggest accounts, a sizeable chunk of the audience may not have been real after all.
