Surprise Delete of 'SpeakerCoJo' Twitter Triggers Look at City Archive Policy

When former City Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s official Twitter account abruptly vanished in January, social media observers and good-government watchdogs were left wondering if he had scrubbed four years of pithy political posts to make way for a career as a lobbyist.Turns out Johnson’s work account, @NYCSpeakerCoJo, was deactivated in mid-January by his replacement, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Queens).The account was removed “for the avoidance of confusion,” according to a spokesperson for Adams. “The former Speaker’s government Twitter account was archived and deactivated, since his term had expired and he was no longer Speaker — plainly speaking, the content remains available for public access but the dormant account is just no longer active,” the spokesperson, Mandela Jones, said.“The City Council follows City and State record retention requirements, and these remain accessible to the public in accordance with the law.” Johnson, who now runs a government-relations lobbying firm, declined to comment, but said he had not been aware the account had been deleted until THE CITY reached out. The move was not liked by government transparency groups and other local politicians, who are now trying to codify the inclusion officials’ websites and social media presence in their public archives.A full archive of the account…
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