The U.S. State Department is deleting all social media posts on X made by its official accounts before President Trump's return to office on January 20, 2025. These posts will be archived internally but removed from public access, requiring Freedom of Information Act requests for viewing. The move aims to unify messaging under the current administration.
The State Department confirmed to NPR that it is purging its public X accounts of any content posted prior to Trump's inauguration in 2025. This includes material from his first term, as well as the administrations of Joe Biden and Barack Obama. While the posts will be preserved in internal archives in line with the Federal Records Act, they will no longer appear on public timelines.
A department employee, speaking anonymously due to fears of retaliation, noted that accessing these older posts now demands a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. This approach marks a departure from standard practices, where federal agency accounts typically retain historical content during administration transitions. For instance, archived versions of the State Department's website from past presidents, including Bill Clinton, remain publicly available.
An unnamed spokesperson explained the rationale: "The goal is to limit confusion on U.S. government policy and to speak with one voice to advance the President, Secretary, and Administration's goals and messaging." The directive covers all active official accounts, encompassing U.S. embassies, missions, ambassadors, and various bureaus. These platforms have long shared policy updates, speeches, traveler advisories, and diplomatic snapshots, such as July 4 livestreams from embassies and images of COVID-19 vaccine donations.
Critics, including retired foreign service officer Orna Blum, argue that the deletions obscure vital historical records. "These posts... show who the U.S. engaged with, when, and how—often the only public record of those moments," Blum wrote on LinkedIn. She added that FOIA processes are "slow, discretionary, and often redacted," not a viable substitute for open access.
Academic Shannon McGregor, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, highlighted the transparency loss: "Social media has... created this level of an imperfect but certainly some level of transparency." Even archived, the barrier to access could hinder research into government communications.
This policy aligns with broader Trump administration efforts to revise online content, such as removing conflicting data on environmental and health issues from government sites. However, the State Department did not clarify if similar actions will affect other platforms or provide easier public access options.
