Backing Up Twitter and Facebook Posts Challenges Governments

Amid the stampede in state and local government to establish accounts on Twitter and Facebook, there is a concern about transparency, a few government officials recently said.

That may seem counterintuitive, given that anyone can view Twitter or Facebook. But government transparency is more complicated. Citizens may expect agencies to produce and maintain archives of communications that leave a digital trail. For example, employees who receive voicemails via e-mail ought to make sure all of the voicemails they receive are fit for public ears. E-mails are considered public records under the Freedom of Information Act, and that includes voicemails attached to them. State and local CIOs are privately asking whether social media postings will need to be archived, too.