Twitter announces it will no longer recommend Russian government accounts to its users
In a statement, Twitter says it will not amplify state-run accounts “engaged in armed interstate conflict” to ensure the “free flow of information”.
“We believe that a free and open internet is vital and that people around the world should have the same access to information,” the statement reads.
This comes after Russian authorities restricted access to Twitter and banned Facebook and Instagram as a part of Putin’s crackdown on social media.
Twitter is also introducing labels on tweets with links to Russian state-affiliated media accounts and one identified Ukraine state media account.
Today, we’re adding labels to Tweets that share links to Russian state-affiliated media websites and are taking steps to significantly reduce the circulation of this content on Twitter.
— Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) February 28, 2022
We’ll roll out these labels to other state-affiliated media outlets in the coming weeks. pic.twitter.com/57Dycmn8lx
“We believe that people have the right to know when a media account is affiliated with a state actor,” Twitter says.
The social media platform has also asked all government-affiliated media to remove posts that feature prisoners of war.
Twitter’s new policy comes just a month after Twitter removed tweets from the Russian Embassy in the UK about the Mariupol hospital bombing.
Rijul Baath contributed to this report
