According to a recent trending article from BuzzFeed, USDA scientists and other employees in its main research division have been ordered not to “release any public-facing documents” under the Trump administration.
In an email obtained by BuzzFeed News, the department told staff at the agency’s main in-house research arm, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), to stop communicating with the public about taxpayer-funded work. The ban included news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content.
The Washington Post dug into the matter further, reporting that ARS had not “blacked out public information” and that scientific articles published through professional peer-reviewed journals have not been banned.
The order does specifically ban news releases and social-media content. The last tweets from USDA’s official account were sent on Jan. 18. The USDA-ARS last tweeted on Jan. 19.
The National Park Service Twitter privileges were also recently suspended according to reports.
