The Scoop

National Archives Will Share Former President Trump’s Tweets Taken Down On Twitter

By • April 8, 2021 2:00 pm

Tweets of former President Donald Trump that have been taken down by Twitter for allegedly violating its rules could be made public again according to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

The independent agency has been working with Twitter over the years to document government content posted on the social media platform and in a statement, it noted that it is working to make public tweets made by the former Republican chief executive.

“NARA intends to provide public access to all captured and preserved Presidential Record social media, including any blocked or deleted Tweets that have been transferred to us,” a National Archives spokesperson reportedly said in a statement on Wednesday.

Nonetheless, Twitter and NARA’s archives will be “separate and distinct”, and only the National Archives will be sharing the former Republican President’s tweets — and will still not be allowed to be shared on the platform.

“Twitter is solely responsible for the decision of what content is available on their platform,” NARA said.

“NARA works closely with Twitter and other social media platforms to maintain archived social accounts from each presidential administration, but ultimately the platform owners can decline to host these accounts. NARA preserves platform independent copies of social media records and is working to make that content available to the public,” the statement added.

Twitter noted that while the platform preserves records “in accordance with appropriate laws,” it will not reactivate the tweets from the account of the former President Trump (@realDonaldTrump) following the social media’s controversial move earlier this year to ban the US President on its platform.

“I can confirm that our teams have been working with NARA on the preservation of Tweets from @realDonaldTrump, as is standard with any administration transition and as we’ve done previously,” multiple reports said, citing a Twitter spokesperson.

“Given that we permanently suspended @realDonaldTrump, the content from the account will not appear on Twitter as it did previously or as archived administration accounts do currently, regardless of how NARA decides to display the data it has preserved. Administration accounts that are archived on the service are accounts that were not in violation of the Twitter Rules,” it added.

The former president was earlier banned by Twitter — among other social media platforms — after claims that the former President “incited violence” through his posts related to the January 6 chaos that ensued in Capitol Hill. 

Other left-leaning tech companies such as Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, Shopify and gaming platform Twitch also deplatformed the former US president.

Twitter earlier said posts of former President Trump after the Capitol Hill incident allegedly violated its policy on “Glorification of Violence.”

Prior to his account being banned, President Trump is the second most-followed American politician on Twitter with 88.6 million followers on the platform. Although banned, however, Trump’s Twitter account has been archived under @POTUS45 and remains up on the platform.

“Our determination is that the two Tweets above are likely to inspire others to replicate the violent acts that took place on January 6, 2021, and that there are multiple indicators that they are being received and understood as encouragement to do so,” Twitter earlier said.

The former Republican president has long used social media to communicate directly to the public — often going past mainstream media — which he often referred to as propagators of “fake news.” He would also use these platforms to lash at his critics and sometimes personalities on his own party over differences.

Trump being banned on social media created a stir from both supporters and critics — who slammed the platform for usurping freedom of speech.

“Big Tech wants to cancel all 75M @realDonaldTrump supporters,” Trump’s 2020 campaign adviser Jason Miller wrote in January. “If you don’t think they’re coming for you next, you’re wrong.”

Far-left Democrat Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vermont) also aired his sentiment on Trump’s social media platforms being shuttered.

“Look, you have a racist, sexist, xenophobe, pathological liar, an authoritarian … a bad news guy. But if you’re asking me do I feel particularly comfortable that the then president of the United States could not express his views on Twitter? I don’t feel comfortable about that,” Sanders told New York Times columnist Ezra Klein in March.

Last month, Trump’s top adviser Jason Miller also announced that the former president would make a social media comeback using his “own platform” — which he said then could come within the next few months.

In late March, Trump also launched a website called 45Office.com along with former First Lady Melania Trump to allow the former Republican chief executive to stay in touch with his supporters.

Steeve Strange

Steeve is the CEO & Co-Founder of The Scoop.
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