Following the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, HHS employees were instructed not to post about mental health, violence or mass shootings on social media accounts without approval from senior officials, The Washington Post reports.
According to internal emails obtained by The Washington Post, employees of HHS and NIH were instructed to hold all social media posts on Aug. 5 until after President Donald Trump gave remarks on the shootings, and for the remainder of the week, posts on mental health, violence and mass shootings required approval from senior officials.
An anonymous HHS employee told The Washington Post that the request was "not typical." President Trump's comments, which drew a parallel between gun violence on mental health, were cause for concern among mental health experts. The Washington Post cites research that shows no more than 1 in 4 mass shooters have had mental health issues.
HHS spokesperson Caitlin Oakley told The Washington Post it is "factually inaccurate" to call the moratorium a formal policy, and the agency has a practice "to not get ahead" of the president. "These were staff-level discussions seeking to be sensitive and respectful to the victims and their families affected by tragedies of that weekend," she said.
Read the full story here.
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