Home > Tech

Twitter apologizes for mistakes around @POTUS account

Two errors affected about 560,000 accounts.

Kerry Flynn

on January 21, 2017

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

There was a mistake made on Inauguration Day.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey apologized Saturday for accidentally making it so that Twitter users followed @POTUS and other administrative accounts even when they tried not to.

It was a complex ordeal during which Twitter told Mashable on Friday, following reports of users saying that they were automatically following @POTUS under Trump even when they were not before or had unfollowed prior to Inauguration (as Twitter outlined they could do), that there was no glitch.

Mashable Light Speed

Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories?

By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Thanks for signing up!

That is still true, in part. But Twitter engineers orchestrated settings that violated what they had said to do.

Dorsey explained the situation in a series of tweets Saturday, which are all below. TLDR: If you followed @POTUS44 (Obama's archived tweets) after 12 p.m. ET Friday you were automatically set to follow @POTUS (Trump), and some accounts were mistakenly marked in the system to follow @POTUS despite previously unfollowing the account.

Here's Dorsey's full explanation, from Twitter:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

As of Saturday, President Trump (@POTUS) has 14.2 million Twitter followers, and @POTUS44 (Obama's archive) has 14.3 million.

Topics X/Twitter Donald Trump Politics

Kerry Flynn

Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.