Former Rep. Katie Hill “hacking” shows clearer policy required for official social media accounts

On October 7, former Rep. Katie Hill [D, CA] announced that The Handmaid’s Tale star, Elisabeth Moss, will play Hill in a movie based on her book, “She Will Rise: Becoming a Warrior in the Battle for True Equality.”

Soon after, the official Twitter account of the former congresswoman tweeted a long thread attributed to former staffers with allegations of staff abuse and pointed criticism of Hill.

The former congresswoman then tweeted from her personal/former campaign account that the official account had been “hacked” and had been in the control of the Office of the Clerk. (That’s not likely.)

This unfortunate situation reveals several important policy gaps within the House of Representatives (and Twitter) that hopefully will be addressed in the next Congress .

1. Members set up new “official” social media accounts when they are sworn in.

This is because they will be using *official* resources to maintain and update these channels — including giving government employees (their staff) access to the accounts. In the House, rules for official social media accounts are under the jurisdiction of the Franking Commission and House Ethics. And for what it’s worth, Members never love the fact that they must start at zero followers on the new accounts. (I love the frankness of this January 2019 from Rep. Dan Crenshaw [R, TX]):

(On the private sector side, Twitter and Facebook quickly give these accounts a verified “blue checkmark.”)

2. While Members of Congress are serving, official social media activity must follow Franking Rules

Rules for “Social Media And Secondary Web Site Content” include:

1. Content must not violate federal law or House Rules and must be “germane to the conduct of the Member’s official and representational duties
2. Content may not include personal, political party, or campaign information
3. Posts may not include grassroots lobbying or solicit support for a Member’s position
4. Content may not generate, circulate, solicit, or encourage signing petitions
5. Content may not include any advertisement for any private individual, firm, or corporation, or imply in any manner that the government endorses or favors any specific commercial product, commodity, or service

3. The rules are MUCH murkier (i.e. nonexistent) when a Member leaves office

Contrary to Rep. Hill’s tweet, control of social media accounts are NOT transferred to the nonpartisan Office of the Clerk (which takes over operations of House offices when a member leaves office before completion of his or her term).

As evidenced by the many former members still tweeting from their official accounts, these are some of the few assets that a member is able to hang onto after their tenure ends. Here’s former Speaker Ryan [R, WI] using the official @SpeakerRyan account to invite followers to join him at a speaking engagement a few days ago:

We are about to have LOTS of Members leaving office, so now would be an excellent time to establish and clarify the policy.

A need for a policy

As with SO many rules about technology use in Congress, it is clear that the current lack of policy is an oversight. No one has ever thought too much about the fact that official social media accounts continue to be possessed held by former members (or, it seems, in some cases by staffers).

When you think about it in the context of other assets created with official resources, the policy should probably be changed or at least clarified. Members do not keep their @mail.house.gov email addresses or websites when they leave offices. They don’t keep their computers or even their records. With social media now such an important part of lawmaker communications, it is time for the House to have a clearer policy for the archiving and deactivating of these accounts.

(And FWIW, Twitter should probaby treat the tweets on the @RepKatieHill account in the same way it would if a former employee of a major corporation was holding the brand’s social media password.)

One other (important!) thing

I have focused on the bureaucratic and technical aspects of the tweets BUT there is another important issue to note.

In 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, over 1500 former staffers signed a letter to call attention to the lack of clear resources to address sexual harassment and abuse on Capitol Hill. The #CongressToo effort resulted in several significant changes in the way harassment claims are handled on Capitol Hill. That includes an independent advocate that staff can go to when they need guidance, which would have been in place during the nine months that Rep. Hill served in the House.

If we take the allegations in the tweets at face value, they raise the questions of whether staff know these resources exist and why the staffers did not feel they could take advantage of them to address issues within the office.

As we enter the final months of the 116th Congress and look ahead to the 117th, ensuring that staff are safe from harassment and know what resources are available should also be a priority.

Marci Harris is a former Capitol Hill staffer and co-founder and CEO of POPVOX, an online platform for legislative information and civic engagement.