Taylor Swift, Cristiano Ronaldo and many other celebs loose followers

Several major celebrities have reportedly lost millions of Instagram followers overnight after parent company Meta carried out a huge crackdown on fake and inactive accounts. The move, which online users have dubbed the “Great Purge of 2026”, affected some of the platform’s biggest stars.

According to reports, Taylor Swift lost around five million followers during the clean-up, while Ariana Grande and South Korean group were each said to have lost around seven million. Ronaldo reportedly saw his follower count drop by more than six million, despite remaining one of the most-followed people on the platform.

The dramatic drop is believed to be linked to Meta removing bot accounts, spam profiles and fake followers in an effort to improve authenticity and engagement across Instagram. Similar social media purges have happened before on other platforms, as companies continue trying to crack down on fake engagement and impersonation accounts online.

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