State Department to Hide All Pre‑2025 X Posts From Public View

The State Department has ordered that all posts on its official X (formerly Twitter) accounts made before President Donald Trump returned to office on Jan. 20, 2025 be removed from public view, confirming to NPR that the content will be kept only in internal archives. An unnamed department spokesperson says the change is meant to 'limit confusion on U.S. government policy' and ensure the accounts 'speak with one voice' in advancing the current administration’s 'America First' messaging, but staff have been told that anyone seeking older posts will now have to file a Freedom of Information Act request. The wipe will cover posts from Trump’s first term as well as those under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and deviates from past practice of leaving prior administrations’ social‑media output publicly accessible as part of the historical record. The move comes amid a broader Trump‑era pattern of removing or rewriting federal information online — from climate and health data to references to slavery at national parks and a COVID‑19 portal replaced with a "Lab Leak" page — and has current and former officials and scholars warning that shrinking easy access to past statements will make it harder to track how U.S. policy and propaganda have evolved. Transparency experts note that while the posts may technically be preserved under the Federal Records Act, forcing the public through FOIA is a high barrier that can effectively bury inconvenient history.