X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has restored an account belonging to current and former employees and contractors at Voice of America after it was suspended for two days on suspicion of being “inauthentic.”
The account, called “Save VOA Now,” had hundreds of followers when it was terminated on Sunday after an internal system erroneously flagged it for violating X’s terms of service and user policies regarding imposter accounts. The Desk was the first to report on the suspended account.
Save VOA Now is organized by current and former workers at the external broadcaster, who use the platform to raise public awareness about funding and employment cuts linked to a controversial Executive Order signed by President Donald Trump in March. The order, which is being challenged through numerous lawsuits, directed the U.S. Agency for Global Media to eliminate funding for external broadcast outlets that are supported financially through acts of Congress.
The order effectively knocked Voice of America off the air, and took out a number of other external broadcasters that rely on federal funding, including Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. More than 1,000 journalists and contractors at Voice of America were furloughed, and hundreds of other workers at Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and other broadcast outlets were also impacted.
Across social media, Save VOA Now has been chronicling the various lawsuits filed to overturn the Executive Order, detailing how affected employees and contractors are working through the matter, and encouraging members of the public to advocate on Voice of America’s behalf by contacting their elected representatives.
On Sunday, an internal system used by X to scrutinize user accounts erroneously flagged the one used by Save VOA Now as improperly linked to Voice of America, which stopped publishing on the platform in March. The organization continued to publish updates on its advocacy efforts through Facebook, Bluesky and YouTube while the suspension was in place.
An account previously used by X to receive media inquiries did not return a request for comment from The Desk. By Tuesday morning, the suspension was reversed, and Save VOA Now advocates were able to log in to their X profile once again.
We’re back! We will not be silenced! On May 4, our account was mistakenly flagged as “inauthentic,” but we’ve regained access. This is a genuine account run by volunteers who want to #SaveVOA. And we need your support too! Please contact your reps and ask them to keep VOA alive!
— savevoa (@savevoanow) May 6, 2025
