FIRST ON FOX: A newly hired White House digital staffer celebrated social media companies “finally, mercifully” banning President Trump on their platforms and asked “What took them so long?” in a 2021 blog post days before President Biden took office.
Andy Volosky, who posted a picture on social media Monday in front of the White House with the caption “Started the new gig today,” joined the White House’s Office of Digital Strategy as the “deputy director of platforms,” according to his Linkedin profile.
In Volosky’s blog post, published on the website of a previous employer, he called the action from social media companies to ban Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots “welcome steps to limiting anyone’s ability to incite real-world violence.”
In a subsection of his article, titled “A New, and Hopefully Welcome, Standard,” Volosky warned that “Twitter still allows the accounts of various world leaders, governments, and spokespeople, who use Twitter for what one can only describe as propaganda as cover for autocracy, to continue to use their platform.
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Andy Volosky was recently hired as deputy director of platforms on the White House digital team. (Andy Volosky on X/Getty Images)
“While these speeches’ consequences are far from most of the world’s eyes, and certainly from those of most Americans, the effects are real all the same,” he continued.
He went on to say that Democrats have “long advocated for regulating the [social media] platforms” and emphasized how active social media users like himself and others can “keep the platforms honest.”
“As social professionals, this is initially scary; we know these platforms inside and out, and unknown regulations affecting our day to day work aren’t exactly something we list on our to-do,” Volosky added. “But with the same token, we can play a role in keeping the platforms honest and improving the positive role of social in people’s lives.
“It’s past time for the platforms to take content moderation and user safety seriously; as social media professionals, we should be ready and eager to make that happen, and we hope that this can be a small step in getting that ball rolling,” he added, referring to Trump being kicked off social media.
Volosky’s new role made headlines in 2022 when the White House hired Megan Coyne, who previously worked in multiple social media roles for New Jersey’s Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, to run the White House social media accounts. The Washington Post called the White House’s tweets “feisty,” and BuzzFeed said the posts were “punchy.” It appears Coyne is still in her role and will share the same title with Volosky.
Volosky, who appears to have deleted his X account and created a new account last month ahead of starting the White House position, previously worked for Middle Seat Consulting as a “senior social & texting strategist.”
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The White House May 1, 2024 (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
The progressive digital agency, which specializes in fundraising and advertising, received millions of dollars from the campaign of Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and has worked closely with Justice Democrats and several members of the “Squad.”
The digital agency also promoted a fundraiser for an organization led by controversial activist Shaun King, which aimed to promote Soros-style prosecutors across the country. Middle Seat has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Real Justice PAC.
A White House spokesperson defended Volosky, telling Fox News Digital that White House officials are “proud to have Andy on the team and are excited about the work he’s already doing to inform Americans about the president’s work to lower costs and deliver for the American people.”
“As we have consistently said, social media companies make independent decisions about the information they present,” Robyn Patterson added. “But those companies have a critical responsibility to take into account the effects their platforms are having on the American people and the security of this nation.”
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President Biden walks on the South Lawn to board Marine One before departing the White House Dec. 8, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Patterson’s comments follow multiple controversies involving Rob Flaherty, who previously served as the White House’s director of digital strategy and is currently the Biden campaign’s deputy campaign manager. Flaherty played a prominent role in working with Facebook on behalf of the Biden White House regarding the narrative on social media as it related to COVID-19, according to Facebook files reviewed by Fox in 2023.
The files showed conversations between Flaherty and Facebook officials in which the Biden staffer suggested the tech company “pay attention” to certain types of conversations, specifically those that expressed hesitancy about the COVID-19 vaccine and its potential side effects.
“Since it’s a global pandemic, can we give agencies access to targeting parameters that they normally wouldn’t be able to?” the White House official said in a conversation at the time.
Fox News’ Aubrie Spady and Andrew Murray contributed to this report.
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