Twitter, Facebook will hand official accounts over to Biden administration
While President Trump has refused to concede the election, despite the failure of legal challenges and results being certified by more and more states, Facebook and Twitter will ensure an orderly transition of accounts by handing over @POTUS and other official accounts to the Biden administration in January.
Both companies announced on Saturday that the transfer of institutional handles would take place on Jan. 20, shortly after Joe Biden is inaugurated.
President Trump will retain control of, and presumably continue to use, his personal accounts on both platforms, including @realdonaldtrump, which has nearly 89 million followers.
“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 said.
The White House, vice president and first lady accounts will be handed over then, as well.
“In 2017, we worked with both the Obama Administration and incoming Trump Administration to make sure the transition of their Facebook and Instagram accounts was seamless on January 20th, and we expect to do the same here,” Facebook told Reuters.
