The Social Security Administration has reversed its decision to cut phone services, but it is still taking measures to restrict access to information about the agency. The SSA plans to discontinue issuing press releases and statements through traditional channels, instead opting to communicate exclusively through X.

An internal meeting between agency managers revealed the shift in communication strategy. As reported, SSA regional commissioner Linda Kerr-Davis stated, “We will no longer be issuing press releases or ‘Dear Colleague’ letters to inform the media and public about programmatic and service changes,” according to Wired. “Instead, the agency will utilize X to communicate with the press and the public.”

The SSA regularly engages with the public, including advocacy groups, through “Dear Colleague” letters that address concerns and questions from third parties regarding Social Security-related matters. These letters are typically shared on the agency’s “News” page, which features communications to advocates, statements from the SSA Press Office, and the agency’s newsletter. It appears that all of this information will be replaced by the SSA X feed.

The agency’s X account currently has over 138,000 followers. In contrast, approximately 73 million people (about 1 in 5 Americans) receive Social Security benefits and may be interested in updates regarding these services.

The shift to Elon Musk’s platform follows several high-profile instances of the SSA website crashing after the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency reduced its IT team. The outages have lasted for full days, but the administration claims they are unrelated to the efforts of DOGE, which have already left the agency short-staffed and struggling.

These outages will likely be cited as justification for shifting communication to X, which has been Musk’s preferred platform for communication even before he acquired it. In 2020, Musk abolished Tesla’s press office and transitioned the company’s communications exclusively to what was then Twitter. Unsurprisingly, the company found it extremely challenging to communicate with the public and press.

In the case of Tesla, the shift is somewhat justifiable, as the company’s customers are likely tech-savvy. However, this is not the case for Social Security, which primarily serves people of retirement age. Individuals can start receiving full Social Security benefits at 67 years old. According to publicly available demographic information about X’s user base, approximately 5% of its users are 65 years old or older. Therefore, the audience for SSA updates is not present on the platform that the agency will primarily use for communication. This does not seem ideal.