The transition begins…for the @POTUS Twitter handle

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When Joe Biden is sworn in as president on January 20th, he'll gain access not only to the country's nuclear codes, but to another formidable weapon -- the official POTUS social media accounts.

While Donald Trump still refuses to accept the election outcome, Twitter and Facebook are working on their own presidential transition.

The social media companies said on Saturday that they would transfer control of their respective POTUS accounts to Joe Biden on Inauguration Day, just as they did in 2017 when they transferred control of the account from the Obama to the Trump administration.

In a statement to Reuters Twitter confirmed that the handover was being done in close consultation with the National Archives and Records.

The @POTUS account on each platform is the official account of the President of the United States.

The social media giants will also hand over other institutional handles - for the White House, vice president and first lady of the United States - on inauguration day.

Politico reported that Twitter will meet transition officials of Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in the coming months to discuss the particulars of how the new administration will use Twitter.