Trump administration reviewing EPA website, curbs agency communication
Washington (CNN)The Trump administration is examining the website of the Environmental Protection Agency to determine which information will remain, underscoring concerns that climate change and other scientific data might be removed.
EPA employees have also been instructed not to release press releases, publish blog posts or post anything on social media. It’s part of a crackdown by the new administration that seems to be especially felt at the EPA and the Interior Department, leaving some employees “terrified.”
EPA spokesperson Doug Erickson said the objective of the website review is to have an agency page that reflects the new administration’s policies.
In a statement, the Park Service blamed “a former employee who was not currently authorized to use the park’s account” for the tweets.
The change in social media since the last major presidential transition complicates things, said Joe Valenzano, associate professor and chairman of the Department of Communications at the University of Dayton.
“Because social media is relatively new, and the use of blogs to promote policy is relatively new there’s no real precedent to say whether freezing communications in the way Trump administration has is a common practice or not,” he said.
But “in the larger context of Trumps war on the media you see tapestry that makes it look somewhat strange.”
