On 24 January 2017, the official Twitter account belonging to the Badlands National Park posted a series of messages about human-caused climate change:
Without any explanation, the tweets were deleted — except for a vague, yet slightly ominous, image:
The tweets quickly drew attention by social media users who commented that the person manning the account appeared to be defying orders: The Badlands National Park account is currently engaged in an act of radical political resistance by tweeting —facts and science— — Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) January 24, 2017 I salute you, Badlands National Park tweeter who is probably going to get fired but is going out in style. https://t.co/LrcH91IOuJ — Kate Sheppard (@kate_sheppard) January 24, 2017 We reached out to both Badlands National Park and the National Park Service for an explanation as to why the tweets were deleted, but in a statement to the media, blamed a former employee who wasn't authorized to use the park's Twitter account: The park was not told to remove the tweets but chose to do so when they realized that their account had been compromised. At this time, National Park Service social media managers are encouraged to continue the use of Twitter to post information relating to public safety and park information, with the exception of content related to national policy issues.
The tweets were posted just days after the National Park Service official Twitter account was deactivated after posting unflattering tweets about President Donald Trump on 20 January 2017, the day of his inauguration. The Trump administration has also called for a social media blackout of the Environmental Protection Agency, whose official Twitter account has been silent since 19 January 2017.
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