WASHINGTON, United States — Meta has confirmed that the archived Obama White House Instagram account was temporarily compromised by hackers, resulting in the publication of unauthorized content before the account was secured.
The breach was discovered on Sunday after the verified account, which has more than 2.4 million followers, unexpectedly became active and shared a series of unusual posts and stories despite having remained dormant for years.
Okay News reports that one of the unauthorized posts included an AI-generated image accompanied by a politically charged message. Following reports from users, Meta’s security teams intervened, removed the content, and took steps to restore control of the account.
The archived account had not posted any legitimate content since January 20, 2017, when control of official White House social media archives was transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) following President Donald Trump’s first inauguration.
Meta said the incident was limited to the archived White House account and did not affect former President Barack Obama’s personal Instagram profile, which has more than 42 million followers. The company added that the account has since been secured and an investigation into the breach is ongoing.
