National Park Twitter Accounts Defy President’s Ban by Tweeting Scientific Facts

national park service Twitter banned president trump badlands

Photo credit: Outdoor Adventure Play

President Trump hasn’t even been in office for one week, but his first term is already riddled with controversy. One unexpected hot button issue? The size of the crowd at his inauguration. Though a widely-circulated photograph shows that his inaugural attendance was substantially lower than that of President Obama in 2009, Trump and his administration have issued official statements declaring otherwise. The U.S. National Parks Service, a federal organization in charge of much of America’s beautiful parks and monuments (including the National Mall), retweeted the tell-tale image.

As one may imagine, Trump was not pleased. In an unprecedented move, he banned the organization from tweeting, which only prompted backlash from another National Park Service Twitter account. In a defiant move, employees of Badlands National Park in South Dakota boldly continued to post about its park, the environment, and, much to Trump’s dismay, facts about climate change. Unsurprisingly, the president demanded the tweets be taken down, too—but not before some eagle-eyed Twitter users immortalized them through screenshots.

Many Twitter users came to Badlands’ defense, proving you can’t silence science.

The drama didn’t stop there. The Trump administration may have been able to temporarily censor the National Park Service’s’ Twitter accounts, but the organization has far from given up the fight. In response to the censorship, a group of National Park employees have taken it upon themselves to anonymously maintain the organization’s commitment to openly sharing scientific facts and combating climate change by creating an entirely new and untouchable Twitter account, @AltUSNatParkService. As it is an “alternative” and unofficial page, no one—not even the president—can control it.

When all is said and done, one must wonder: Mr. Trump does know that the National Park Service is responsible for the land surrounding his new home, right?

To support the National Park organization as it celebrates over a century of service, visit its website.

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h/t: [IFL SCIENCE!]

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