Biden will receive @POTUS account from Facebook, Twitter
On inauguration day, the two social media giants will hand over various institutional handles
Today, Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. announced they will transfer control of the @POTUS account to President-elect Joe Biden‘s administration on January 20.
On both platforms, the @POTUS is the official account of the President of the United States. It is separate from the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account and the @DonaldTrump Facebook page that President Trump mostly uses to write his posts.
“Twitter is actively preparing to support the transition of White House institutional Twitter accounts on January 20th, 2021. As we did for the presidential transition in 2017, this process is being done in close consultation with the National Archives and Records,” the company confirmed to Reuters on Saturday.
Read More: Twitter suspends fake accounts posing as Black Trump supporters
On inauguration day the two social media giants will also hand over other institutional handles including handles for the White House, vice president and first lady of the United States.
In 2017, we worked with both the Obama Administration and incoming Trump Administration to make sure the transition of their Facebook and Instagram accounts were seamless on January 20, and we expect to do the same here,” Facebook said in response to a query from Reuters.
According to POLITICO, the handover of the @POTUS Twitter handle does not require sharing of information between the outgoing Trump team and incoming Biden team.
The outlet also reported that Twitter will meet transition officials of Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in the coming months to discuss the details of how the new administration will use Twitter.
Read More: Trump melts down on Twitter over ‘stolen election’
Two weeks have elapsed since Biden became President-elect, yet Trump has refused to publicly concede and is seeking to overturn the election results through lawsuits and recounts in a number of states, claiming — without proof — widespread voter fraud.
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