Here's Why Biden Won't Inherit Trump's Twitter Followers On @WhiteHouse, @POTUS

The Biden administration will soon run the official Twitter account of the White House and the President of the United States, but the accounts will not follow the social media practices of previous administrations.

In 2017, Barack Obama urged Twitter to transfer the official accounts and its followers to the Trump administration. However, President-elect Joe Biden won't be inheriting Donald Trump’s 33.2 million followers on the @POTUS account and 26 million followers on the @WhiteHouse accounts when he takes over the Oval Office.

“In 2016, the Trump admin absorbed all of President Obama's Twitter followers on @POTUS and @WhiteHouse -- at Team 44's urging. In 2020, Twitter has informed us that as of right now the Biden administration will have to start from zero,” Rob Flaherty, Biden’s digital director, said.

Twitter will send users who are following @JoeBiden or @KamalaHarris a one-time notification suggesting they follow the incoming administration’s transition account @Transition46. The account, which currently has 1.2 million followers, will be rebranded as @WhiteHouse after Biden’s inauguration.

“For example, people who follow @WhiteHouse will be notified that the account has been archived as @WhiteHouse45 and given the option to follow the new @WhiteHouse account,” a Twitter spokesperson said.

Other official accounts, including @Flotus and @PressSec, will also be reset to zero followers after the transition.

President Trump and Twitter have been at odds since the social media service began fact-checking the president’s tweets in May. Many conservative and Republican supporters accused Twitter of suppressing conservative posts on its platform.

After leaving the White House, President Trump will be asked to follow the Twitter rules that private citizens abide by. Twitter will also be removing Trump’s “world leader exemptions.”

For a Twitter account to be considered in the public interest, the user must be verified, must be an elected official or someone running for office, and have more than 100,000 followers.

Violating the social networking service’s Civic Integrity Policy, which states that accounts should not be used “for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes,” could get a Twitter account suspended or removed.