New York City Council Questions Administration on Disappearing Influencer Communications and Records Retention
The New York City Council is scrutinizing the Mamdani administration regarding the use of disappearing messages in a Signal group for communicating with social media influencers. The 'NYC Creators Announcements' group, an invite-only chat for over 200 online creators, was found to have enabled disappearing messages. While City Hall stated it took 'corrective action' by reminding staff to disable the feature, it has not confirmed if government records were lost. During an oversight hearing, Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) Commissioner Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz and Mayor’s Office of Mass Engagement Commissioner Tascha Van Auken testified, but officials with direct knowledge of the group's operations were absent. Smith-Cruz indicated that under a May 2025 DORIS policy, instant messages related to city business are government records but are 'transitory by default' unless they document substantive decisions, actions, or policies, with employees responsible for making this distinction. The Cou...