SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Facing Information Crackdown, Federal Agencies Go 'Rogue' on Twitter
"Rogue Twitter accounts are fun, but gov't employees and scientists are very afraid of being fired if they speak out & share facts." —@RogueNASA
Jan 26, 2017
Taking on President Donald Trump on his preferred battleground, roughly two dozen "rogue" Twitter accounts have sprung up since Tuesday, allegedly created by anonymous federal workers in irreverent protest of the Trump administration's anti-science stance.
The phenomenon began when the official Badlands National Park account started tweeting the facts about climate change--an effort that swiftly went viral earlier this week. While that account's tweets were later taken down, the spirit of the endeavor lived on in the face of an information crackdown by the incoming president and his alt-fact-promoting "beachhead teams."
@AltUSNatParkService was one of the first copycats, calling itself "the Unofficial 'Resistance' team of U.S. National Park Service."
@RogueNASA, @ungaggedEPA, @ActualEPAFacts, and @AltHHS soon followed.
A few users have compiled lists of all the current "resistance" accounts.
It remains unclear how many of these accounts were actually registered or being maintained by current or former federal employees, with The Verge noting that gleeful re-tweeters "should remember that these accounts are emotionally gratifying, not edifying."
Indeed, @RogueNASA reminded its followers of the very real reason for the rogue accounts on Wednesday:
As Common Dreams reported Wednesday, momentum for a Scientists' March on Washington has grown dramatically in recent days.
If a war on facts "is actually part of your governing philosophy," California Academy of Sciences executive director Jonathan Foley wrote to Trump at Scientific American on Wednesday, "I would give you a warning on behalf of my fellow scientists: Do not mess with us. Do not try to bury the truth. Do not interfere with the free and open pursuit of science. You do so at your peril."
"Americans don't look kindly on bullies, people who try to suppress the truth, or people who try to intimidate scientists and the press," Foley wrote. "In the long run, this always backfires. The dustbin of history is full of people who have tried, and failed. You will too."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Taking on President Donald Trump on his preferred battleground, roughly two dozen "rogue" Twitter accounts have sprung up since Tuesday, allegedly created by anonymous federal workers in irreverent protest of the Trump administration's anti-science stance.
The phenomenon began when the official Badlands National Park account started tweeting the facts about climate change--an effort that swiftly went viral earlier this week. While that account's tweets were later taken down, the spirit of the endeavor lived on in the face of an information crackdown by the incoming president and his alt-fact-promoting "beachhead teams."
@AltUSNatParkService was one of the first copycats, calling itself "the Unofficial 'Resistance' team of U.S. National Park Service."
@RogueNASA, @ungaggedEPA, @ActualEPAFacts, and @AltHHS soon followed.
A few users have compiled lists of all the current "resistance" accounts.
It remains unclear how many of these accounts were actually registered or being maintained by current or former federal employees, with The Verge noting that gleeful re-tweeters "should remember that these accounts are emotionally gratifying, not edifying."
Indeed, @RogueNASA reminded its followers of the very real reason for the rogue accounts on Wednesday:
As Common Dreams reported Wednesday, momentum for a Scientists' March on Washington has grown dramatically in recent days.
If a war on facts "is actually part of your governing philosophy," California Academy of Sciences executive director Jonathan Foley wrote to Trump at Scientific American on Wednesday, "I would give you a warning on behalf of my fellow scientists: Do not mess with us. Do not try to bury the truth. Do not interfere with the free and open pursuit of science. You do so at your peril."
"Americans don't look kindly on bullies, people who try to suppress the truth, or people who try to intimidate scientists and the press," Foley wrote. "In the long run, this always backfires. The dustbin of history is full of people who have tried, and failed. You will too."
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Taking on President Donald Trump on his preferred battleground, roughly two dozen "rogue" Twitter accounts have sprung up since Tuesday, allegedly created by anonymous federal workers in irreverent protest of the Trump administration's anti-science stance.
The phenomenon began when the official Badlands National Park account started tweeting the facts about climate change--an effort that swiftly went viral earlier this week. While that account's tweets were later taken down, the spirit of the endeavor lived on in the face of an information crackdown by the incoming president and his alt-fact-promoting "beachhead teams."
@AltUSNatParkService was one of the first copycats, calling itself "the Unofficial 'Resistance' team of U.S. National Park Service."
@RogueNASA, @ungaggedEPA, @ActualEPAFacts, and @AltHHS soon followed.
A few users have compiled lists of all the current "resistance" accounts.
It remains unclear how many of these accounts were actually registered or being maintained by current or former federal employees, with The Verge noting that gleeful re-tweeters "should remember that these accounts are emotionally gratifying, not edifying."
Indeed, @RogueNASA reminded its followers of the very real reason for the rogue accounts on Wednesday:
As Common Dreams reported Wednesday, momentum for a Scientists' March on Washington has grown dramatically in recent days.
If a war on facts "is actually part of your governing philosophy," California Academy of Sciences executive director Jonathan Foley wrote to Trump at Scientific American on Wednesday, "I would give you a warning on behalf of my fellow scientists: Do not mess with us. Do not try to bury the truth. Do not interfere with the free and open pursuit of science. You do so at your peril."
"Americans don't look kindly on bullies, people who try to suppress the truth, or people who try to intimidate scientists and the press," Foley wrote. "In the long run, this always backfires. The dustbin of history is full of people who have tried, and failed. You will too."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.