Taylor Swift Message Sparks Theory

A number of Taylor Swift fans have shared conspiracy theories online, after her public vote message was followed by a flood of complaints that Instagram and Facebook had temporarily gone down.

March 5's Super Tuesday saw 15 states and one territory holding contests ahead of the presidential election, with President Joe Biden and his presumed Republican opponent Donald Trump enjoying near sweeps in their respective parties.

As voters prepared to head the ballots, Swift took to Instagram on Tuesday morning to urge her fans to participate in their states' primaries.

"I wanted to remind you guys to vote the people who most represent YOU into power," the pop icon wrote in her post. "If you haven't already, make a plan to vote today. Whether you're in Tennessee or somewhere else in the US, check your polling places and times at Vote.org."

Following her announcement, a host of fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to declare that they had problems accessing and using Facebook and Instagram.

"Facebook and IG [are] down because Taylor Swift told her fans to go make their voices heard," wrote one X user. "Vote Swifties!!"

"So not even 30 mins ago Taylor Swift posts about Super Tuesday and now all of a sudden Instagram is down along with Facebook?" another fan commented. "That's not suspicious at all.."

"They don't want you to see that Taylor Swift told you to go vote," opined novelist David Leavitt, who rounded out his post with the hashtags "#CyberAttack" and "#facebookdown."

"No conspiracy. But interesting coincidence: Instagram Facebook and WhatsApp went down right after Taylor Swift encouraged millions of young voters through Instagram story to register to vote today," read another post.

"Facebook & Instagram down after Taylor Swift encouraged her 282 million followers to vote today on her stories is peak voter suppression omg," said another.

"Not saying this is a fact, but Taylor Swift posted voting information on her stories and two seconds later I started seeing #facebookdown and #instagramdown," wrote another fan. "If she did cause it... okay queen!"

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, via email for comment.

Swift's political beliefs have long been a point of speculation, as the "Shake It Off" singer largely remained quiet about politics until 2018, when she endorsed Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen in Tennessee. She has also voiced support for the LGBTQ+ community and abortion rights.

Some people have speculated she may endorse Biden ahead of the November general election, but thus far she has not said who she is supporting for president. She did, however, endorse him in the 2020 presidential election. Solidifying her positions in the past, Swift publicly criticized Trump during his presidency.

Swift has proven herself to be quite the political force. On September 19, National Voter Registration Day, the singer took to Instagram to share a message urging her fans to register on the nonpartisan, nonprofit Vote.org. According to the organization, Swift's post was followed by a surge of more than 35,000 registrations—an almost 25 percent increase over the same day the previous year.

Andrea Hailey, the CEO of Vote.org, said in a statement that the single-day surge in registrations was a "highly encouraging sign of voter enthusiasm," particularly as there was a 115 percent spike over 2022 in newly eligible 18-year-olds registering to vote.

Previous polling conducted for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies found that 18 percent of voters say they're "more likely" or "significantly more likely" to vote for a candidate endorsed by Swift.

Seventeen percent said they would be less likely to vote for a Swift-backed candidate, while 55 percent would be neither more nor less likely to do so. Of all the respondents, 45 percent said they were fans of the singer, and 54 percent said they were not. Only 6 percent said they were not familiar with Swift.

The survey, which had a sample size of 1,500 eligible voters, was conducted on January 18 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.53 percent.

With her political leanings in mind, Swift's influence has sparked a wave of unrelenting attacks of from some Trump supporters. Ahead of last month's Super Bowl LVIII, many threatened to boycott the broadcast simply because she was expected to be present to support her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

"Taylor Swift is a force," comedian and Democratic consultant Chip Franklin previously told Newsweek. "Her presence at NFL games has been a $330 million bonanza for both the Chiefs and the NFL."

"Swift's music taps into the angst and pressure young people are experiencing in this social media maelstrom, and combine that with her boyfriend—a handsome football star and pro-vax advocate—and you have an unprecedented whirlwind of cultural and political opinion," Franklin added.