Twitter told Politico on Wednesday that it would not allow retweets of Trump’s tweets, including those that led to his ban. The decision came on the heels of news that the United States National Archives is working on an official online archive of all the messages Trump sent to the world as president via Twitter. The National Archives has long been collecting personal and professional tweets from other members of the Trump administration.
Twitter’s decision is likely to add more fuel to the debate in Washington about the power of tech companies in the public debate. Republicans in particular have been complaining for some time that Silicon Valley companies often silence conservatives.
A spokesperson for the National Archives previously said it was the “best way” to preserve the tweets from the realDonaldTrump account for future generations. The National Archives wants to leave to Twitter whether messages will also appear on that social medium again. A Twitter spokesperson said the company is working with the National Archives to archive tweets “as is normal practice when transitioning to a new government.”
