Society
"Grand Cleanup" on Instagram: Ronaldo and Other Stars Lost Millions of Followers
May 7, 2026 17:40 • UTC+5 (Ashgabat) • 9 views
Instagram has launched a major cleanup targeting bots and fake inactive accounts. Cristiano Ronaldo lost 8 million followers, Kylie Jenner 15 million, while Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez each lost 6 million. Despite the drop, Ronaldo remains the most-followed person on Instagram with 666 million followers.
Starting from May 6, the social network Instagram has launched a large-scale operation to clear the platform of bots, spam, and inactive fake accounts. This measure has significantly affected the follower counts of the world's most famous celebrities.
As a result of the cleanup, world-renowned personalities lost millions of followers:
- Kylie Jenner: 15 million;
- Cristiano Ronaldo: 8 million;
- Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez: 6 million each;
- Justin Bieber: 5 million followers.
Despite losing 8 million followers, famous footballer Cristiano Ronaldo maintained his position as the most followed person in the world on Instagram with a total of 666 million followers. This figure confirms that he remains the individual with the highest number of followers.
Instagram representatives state that the main goal of this measure is to eliminate inauthentic and fake activity on the platform. Consequently, ordinary users may also see a decrease in their follower counts. Experts clarify that this is not due to real people unfollowing, but rather "inactive" accounts being deleted by the automated system, and emphasize there is no cause for concern.