In 2016, the General Services Administration announced the launch of the U.S. Digital Registry, a database to track the government's official social media accounts, mobile websites, and apps. Part of the goal is to update the previous federal social media registry, which was meant to better track the government's social media efforts and help people verify that government accounts are authentic. That was it.
But now, the agency is not obligated to use the information to update its tools, a GSA spokesperson told FedScoop. The removal of this requirement comes as election season approaches and the threat of people impersonating official government accounts online increases. Meanwhile, as CyberScoop reported last month, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said it is no longer communicating or coordinating with social media companies regarding potential disinformation campaigns.
The tool emerged amid a series of digital transformation efforts by the government during the Obama administration. Back in November 2016, the White House circulated a memo requiring government agencies to “register public digital services, such as social media, collaboration accounts, mobile apps, and mobile websites, on their sites within 60 days.” The purpose was to “help confirm the effectiveness of the U.S. government's official digital platforms,” the memo said.
However, a new memo from September 2023 did not update that requirement, GSA said. The agency told FedScoop it is updating a page with this requirement. According to the GSA, there are currently 463 user accounts in the registry, but it's unclear how actively the public is using it.
A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget directed FedScoop to GSA.
Still, many agencies don't seem to be updating their accounts. For example, NASA is very active on social media, but they are not uploading their accounts to the tool because the requirement has been rescinded. Although the Federal Bureau of Investigation manages social media accounts for many field offices, only five accounts are included in the tool.
Other issues have been identified with this tool. In 2017, researchers at George Washington University identified vulnerabilities in the tool, including suspended accounts that at one point tweeted in Russian, and deleted accounts with usernames that tweeted in Russian. has been reported. Taken over.
Governments continue to face problems determining the authenticity of accounts. Last year, FedScoop reported how after the U.S. Office of Personnel Management removed a mobile app that helped recruit people to federal jobs, fakes with similar voices replaced it. When FedScoop asked about the tool, Google removed the app from the Google Play Store.
