Congress Must Protect Public Access To Digital Government Records

FEDERAL AGENCIES ARE REMOVING PUBLIC DIGITAL RECORDS I am writing as a constituent to express serious concern about the recent removal of pre-January 20, 2025 federal agency social media content from public access, including content posted by the Department of State and other agencies. This action restricts transparency, weakens public oversight, and appears inconsistent with long-standing federal records and open-government principles. Each month these records remain inaccessible increases the risk of incomplete archiving, selective disclosure, or permanent loss of historically significant material. Congress should investigate this practice and ensure that official digital records remain publicly accessible. RECENT ACTIONS BY FEDERAL AGENCIES Since January 20, 2025, multiple federal agencies have removed prior administrations’ content from official X (formerly Twitter) accounts. At the State Department, this includes embassy livestreams, diplomatic engagements, humanitarian aid documentation, cultural programming, and routine public diplomacy communications. Similar actions have been reported at the Department of Defense and other agencies. While these records are reportedly archived internally, public access is now limited to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. WHY RESTRICTED ACCESS UNDERMINES ACCOUNTABILITY These social media records were created as official government communications and served as the primary public record of many diplomatic, humanitarian, and policy activities. Removing them from searchable public access eliminates timely transparency, burdens journalists and researchers, and undermines historical accountability. FOIA is slow, discretionary, and often redacted; it is a backstop, not a substitute for open archives. CONCERNS UNDER FEDERAL RECORDS AND OPEN GOVERNMENT LAW Federal guidance from the National Archives and Records Administration recognizes official social media content as federal records that must be preserved with context and accessibility. Historically, prior administrations’ records - including websites and presidential social media - have been preserved through public, read-only archives. Restricting access to these records also impairs Congress’s ability to conduct informed oversight of Executive Branch actions. Choosing not to provide similar public access for agency social media appears to conflict with open-government norms and the spirit of federal records law. OVERSIGHT AND LEGISLATIVE STEPS NEEDED Congress should: (1) PUBLICLY ADDRESS the removal of prior administrations’ agency social media content and its impact on transparency and oversight. (2) CONDUCT OVERSIGHT HEARINGS to determine which agencies are restricting access, under what authority, and with what records-management justification. (3) ENACT LEGISLATION requiring that official agency social media content be preserved in permanent, publicly accessible, read-only archives across administrations. Thank you.