Agencies told to withhold social media posts

WASHINGTON» When President Donald Trump targeted mental illness as the cause of the mass shootings that killed more than 30 people in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, federal health officials made sure no government experts might contradict him.

A Health and Human Services directive on Aug. 5 warned communication staffers not to post anything on social media related to mental health, violence and mass shootings without prior approval. That alarmed some government mental health experts who said they felt muzzled at a moment many Americans were searching for answers to the U.S. epidemic of mass shootings, said three agency employees.

Many researchers and mental health experts said Trump’s comments contradicted wellestablished research.

“Mental illness and hatred pull the trigger. Not the gun,” Trump said immediately after the shootings. In the following days, he doubled down on his statement, arguing that America should reopen mental institutions shuttered decades ago as a way to address mass shootings.

While mental illness is sometimes a factor in such shootings, it is rarely a predictor, according to a growing body of research. Most studies of mass shooters have found that no more than a quarter of them have diagnosed mental illness. Researchers have noted more commonly shared attributes include a strong sense of resentment, desire for notoriety, obsession with other shooters, a history of domestic violence, narcissism and access to firearms.

“To say that scientists and experts who know the data and facts best are not allowed to speak — that’s very concerning,” said Dominic Sisti, a University of Pennsylvania professor who studies ethics in mental health and psychiatry. “It’s especially alarming that they’re doing this at a critical moment when what we need most is research and evidence-based facts about mental illness.”

An HHS employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity to relate internal discussions said he had “no doubt this was meant to prevent anybody from making any statements that might contradict the president.”

“We understand we’re not supposed to contradict the president, but it’s not typical” for the administration to require that all social media posts be cleared by senior officials, he added.

On Aug. 5, Trump was scheduled to speak after the weekend shootings. That morning, some HHS employees, including those at the National Institutes of Health, received an email asking those who contribute to official social media accounts to hold off on posts until “we get the green light from HHS,” which was expected after the president spoke, according to a copy of the email obtained by The Washington Post.

Later that afternoon, some employees received another email from Renate Myles, an NIH spokeswoman. Social media posts could resume, the note said, but employees were asked to “please send any posts related to mental health, violence or other topics associated with mass shootings for review before posting.”

The second directive applied most directly to the National Institutes of Mental Health, where nearly all of the agency’s social media activities relate to mental health. It remains unclear how many people received that instruction, which was lifted by week’s end.