Adam Mosseri, Instagram lead, speaks out on why users are losing followers

Instagram lead Adam Mosseri has addressed their platform’s most pressing issue of all time in a post on May 8, 2026.

Mosseri took to his Instagram Stories and posted a Q&A with the caption, “Why are we losing so many followers?”

Mosseri, while addressing the media buzz surrounding users losing followers overnight, said, “So, there’s a lot of press about this week and basically what happened is we regularly remove accounts that are either very very long inactive or bots and usually doesn’t happen so many accounts at once.”

Mosseri, Instagram boss, continued, “But this happened very quickly this week.

Either I think we should make sure that we do a more regular basis or we should make sure we give a heads up next time."

He then went on to apologize for the inconvenience caused, saying, “So I apologize for all the confusion. I know a lot of people are nervous about this but it’s not going to affect your reach."

Mosseri insisted that users need not worry about the followers they lost, saying, “The accounts that are now longer on Instagram or either inactive for a very long time or actual bots.

"It’s not actual real followers that you have lost. And therefore it won’t actually affect how many people you reach when you post."

Massorie again offered an apology, "So apologies for the confusion. We’ll try to manage it more responsibly in the future."

For context, on May 8, in a major shake-up, Instagram removed millions of followers from users including famous celebs, creators and businesses.

These include Kyle Jenner, who lost 15 million followers, Korean K-pop group BLACKPINK with 10 million, and Cristiano Ronaldo with 8 million followers overnight.

Mosseri assumed the charge of Instagram back in 2018 after joining the company then known as Facebook in 2008.