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Fans were left surprised this week after several global celebrities, including Virat Kohli, Cristiano Ronaldo and K-pop group BLACKPINK, saw millions of followers disappear from Instagram almost overnight.
The sharp decline came after Meta reportedly launched another cleanup drive targeting fake, inactive and spam accounts on the platform. While Instagram has not officially confirmed the scale of the exercise, social media users quickly noticed follower counts falling across several high-profile accounts.
Ronaldo, who remains the most-followed person on Instagram, reportedly lost millions of followers within days. Virat Kohli also witnessed a major dip, while BLACKPINK and its members saw noticeable declines in their numbers.
Instagram carried out similar purges in the past to remove bot accounts and suspicious profiles created to artificially boost engagement. Experts say celebrity accounts are usually affected the most as they attract huge numbers of inactive followers and spam accounts over time.
The latest cleanup appears to be part of Meta’s broader push to improve authenticity on its platforms. Fake engagement and purchased followers have remained a long-standing problem across social media, especially for influencers and public figures.
Several other celebrities, including Lionel Messi and Kylie Jenner, were also reportedly affected.
The sudden drop sparked mixed reactions online. Some users praised Instagram for cleaning up the platform and reducing fake engagement. Others joked that celebrities were ‘losing fans overnight.’
A section of users also pointed out that follower counts may no longer be the best way to judge popularity online. Many creators today focus more on engagement, reach and audience interaction rather than raw numbers.
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Despite the decline, the affected celebrities continue to dominate Instagram. Ronaldo still leads the platform by a huge margin, while Kohli remains one of India’s biggest social media personalities. BLACKPINK too continues to enjoy a massive global fan base, with the group maintaining strong engagement across platforms. The episode once again highlights how social media numbers can shift overnight, especially when platforms decide to crack down on fake activity.
