The White House on Wednesday denied it has directed federal agencies to stop using social media, saying new restrictions on communications have instead come from within those agencies themselves.

“There's nothing that has come from the White House. Absolutely not,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer Sean Michael SpicerKellyanne Conway to leave White House at end of month Pro-Trump duo Diamond and Silk launch new program on Newsmax TV The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - Supreme Court's unanimous decision on the Electoral College MORE said. "There are a couple of these agencies that have had problems adhering to their own policies.”

“They haven’t been directed by us to do anything,” he said.

Since President Trump took office on Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been told not to tweet or communicate with the media while the agency reviews its public relations strategy.

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The Interior Department was also reportedly instructed to stop operating its Twitter accounts following a couple of National Park Service tweets about the size of Trump’s inauguration crowd.

Then on Tuesday, South Dakota’s Badlands National Park account tweeted and later deleted four messages about climate change science. The National Park Service said those tweets were sent by a former employee who still had access to the account.

Spicer said the National Park Service tweets on Friday also came from a former employee, and EPA transition officials say the media ban there will be lifted soon. Spicer noted the agency improperly used social media during the Obama administration to promote a rule it was finalizing.

Still, the media policy has angered environmentalists and Democrats who worry it previews a broader crackdown on the agencies’ science work.

Spicer insisted on Wednesday that wasn’t the case.

“From what I understand, they’ve been told within the agencies to adhere to their own policies. But that directive did not come from here," he said.