Twitter labels state-controlled media outlets, govt officials’ accounts

The micro-blogging platform will not amplify tweets by state-controlled media outlets. The move will make affected accounts less likely to appear in search results or notifications

Twitter has announced it would not amplify tweets by state-controlled media outlets and label the accounts of government-linked media, and key government officials from the five permanent member countries of the UN Security Council: China, France, Russia, the UK and the US. The micro-blogging platform said the new labelling policy would include accounts of key government officials, including foreign ministers, institutional entities, ambassadors, official spokespeople, and key diplomatic leaders from these five countries.

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“At this time, our focus is on senior officials and entities who are the official voice of the state abroad,” the company said in a statement late on Thursday. The move will make affected accounts less likely to appear in search results or notifications. Twitter will also label accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors and their senior staff.

The move will impact state-controlled media organisations like Russia’s RT and China’s Xinhua news agency. In 2019, Twitter banned all state-backed media advertising and political advertising from Twitter. “For transparency and practicality, we are starting with a limited and clearly-defined group of countries before expanding to a wider range of countries in the future,” said Twitter…Read More