First on The Desk: A social media account used by current and former employees and contractors of the Voice of America was suspended from the platform X (formerly Twitter) for unspecified policy violations, The Desk has learned.
The account, called “Save VOA Now,” was part of a cross-platform advocacy initiative to raise public awareness on federal spending and employment cuts involving the Voice of America, which were effectuated by members of President Donald Trump’s administration.
The cuts — now the subject of numerous legal challenges — were rooted in an Executive Order that Trump signed in March, which directed the U.S. Agency for Global Media and several other federal agencies to pull funding and cut non-essential staff across their operations.
The cuts impacted more than 1,000 journalists and contractors at Voice of America, the federally-funded external broadcaster that reached millions of people with facts-first journalism on shortwave radio, broadcast television, satellite and streaming around the world.
A handful of affected workers and contractors organized “Save VOA Now,” which reached members of the public through X and a number of other social platforms.
Early Sunday morning, organizers were sent an e-mail saying an automated system at X had “detected” that the Save VOA Now account was “inauthentic.” As such, it was suspended pursuant to a policy regarding fake accounts and impersonation.
“The @savevoanow handle is a genuine account, run by a team of volunteers to keep the Voice of America from being silence,” a spokesperson with the group wrote in a message posted to another social platform.
The Desk was able to confirm the authenticity of the group by linking it to several current and former employees of the Voice of America, who republished a statement condemning the decision to suspend the group’s account on X. Among the workers who republished the statement are volunteers of Save VOA Now and veteran journalists of the broadcaster, whose social media accounts have been maintained for years and include links to their original reporting published on the VOA News website and other platforms linked to the outlet.
A spokesperson for X has not yet returned a message seeking comment. The request was sent to an e-mail account that was previously available for press inquiries; it isn’t clear if the account is still active.
Save VOA Now remains active on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X competitor Bluesky.
