Instagram (Meta) has been running one of its largest campaigns in recent years to remove bots, spam, and inactive accounts since May 6. This has already led to a noticeable drop in follower counts for users worldwide—from small blogs and brands to the biggest celebrities. According to user reports, on May 6–7 the platform removed millions of “dead” accounts within a few hours.

Among the most notable losses: Kylie Jenner—more than 14 million followers; Blackpink’s official account—around 10 million. Cristiano Ronaldo’s losses are estimated to range from 7–8 million to 18 million, while he remains the platform’s most popular user—about 666 million followers.

Regular accounts are estimated to lose 2–5% of their audience on average, while those who used follower “boosting” may see a larger decline.

Instagram explains the “purge” as an effort to increase the platform’s authenticity: improve the accuracy of analytics for advertisers, reduce the influence of bot farms, and make algorithms fairer for real content. This could increase engagement and the quality of interactions with real followers.