Twitter is on the move to fight both information imbalance and disinformation by limiting content from Russian government accounts, including President Putin himself.
Disinformation on Twitter
Following the recent events captured by news outlets in Ukraine, the Russian government is extending its atrocities on social media sites like Twitter. Just last March, BBC probed into how Kremlin manipulated words, content, and even photos shared on Twitter.
The investigation showed that accounts run by Government officials themselves participate in disinformation by sharing false and twisted narratives, an action that is against Twitter's rules and regulations.
Not just that, the same report from BBC also discovered that this is not an isolated case. This is because over 300 government and numerous state-affiliated accounts coordinate with each other to share tweets that debunk actual photos taken from the war and paint it as a 'hoax.'
"If these accounts weren't retweeting stuff at the same time, the network would just be a bunch of disconnected dots. So, very clearly, the network shows that there's a very dense amount of connections to the way these accounts are retweeting," said Mr. Graham, an analyst on coordinated Social Media activities.
As a response, Twitter announced that it would no longer recommend tweets from Russian state-controlled media outlets for amplification. This means they would not be featured in the home timeline, notifications, or anywhere else on Twitter.
Content from state-linked accounts may be zipped, but the Russian government accounts do not fall under this policy, as told by Twitter to BBC. However, that doesn't mean they can get away. Twitter reveals they flag accounts related to Kremlin and would often remove tweets they found violating their rules.
Limiting Content from Russian Government Accounts
Despite not being part of the policy, BBC reported that Twitter is changing the rules. Now, tweets, retweets, and likes from more than 300 government accounts will no longer be boosted or recommended by Twitter's algorithm. In other words, Twitter's algorithm will no longer promote these accounts and their tweets on the platform.
Among the Russian government accounts that are subject to content limitations are the profiles of Russian ministries and embassies and the accounts of high-ranking officials - even the President himself.
Several factors contributed to Twitter's decision, including Russia's actions in Ukraine and the country's decision to block and limit social media platforms domestically.
"When a government that's engaged in armed conflict is blocking or limiting access to online services within their country, while they themselves continue to use those same services to advance their positions and viewpoints - that creates a harmful information imbalance," Twitter's Head of Site Integrity, Yoel Roth said.
In its announcement, Twitter described the rules as being applied to any country that restricts access to online services while participating in interstate warfare. But the new rules, which went into effect Tuesday, primarily impact Russian government accounts.
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Written by Thea Felicity
