\nTwitter is now resurfacing official Russian accounts in search results<\/br>
\n2023-04-11 22:56:06<\/br><\/p>\n
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\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nA year after Twitter restricted the Russian government accounts<\/a> on its platform, the social network appears to have removed those blockings. The Elon Musk-owned platform has resumed surfacing accounts of Vladimir Putin and the Russian Embassy in search results.<\/p>\n The change, spotted by The Telegraph<\/a>, also shows the Russian authorities\u2019 accounts on timelines and recommendations. A former Twitter employee told the publication that this move is likely because of a policy change.<\/p>\n Twitter has changed its policy about a number of things in recent days, including which accounts it deems government and state-affiliated<\/a>. The <\/span>earlier version<\/a> had a section called \u201cDo these labels limit functionality?\u201d where the company described how it limited the reach of some accounts in this category.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn the case of state-affiliated media entities, Twitter will not recommend or amplify accounts or their Tweets with these labels to people. In limited circumstances where there is a heightened risk for harm, including situations where governments block access to information on the internet in the context of an armed conflict, Twitter will also not recommend or amplify certain government accounts or their Tweets with these labels to people,\u201d the policy read.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Now, the company has entirely removed that section. Additionally, responding to a user over the weekend, Musk said that Twitter will moving forward \u201cneither prompt nor limit their accounts\u201d and the company will \u201crapidly address any attempts at gaming the system.\u201d Historically, there have been multiple<\/a> instances<\/a> of the Kremlin using Twitter accounts to manipulate a narrative.<\/p>\n This platform will neither promote nor limit their accounts, but we will rapidly address any attempts at gaming the system.<\/p>\n It is a weak move to engage in censorship just because others do so. Letting our press be free when theirs is not demonstrates strength.<\/p>\n \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Last year, after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, Twitter enforced a policy<\/a> that curbed the amplification of government accounts from countries that had blocked the free flow of information.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen a government blocks or limits access to online services within their state, undercutting the public\u2019s voice and ability to freely access information, but continues to use online services for their own communications, a severe information imbalance is created. Particularly in moments of active, armed interstate conflict, the harms created by this imbalance are acute; access to information, and to the ability to share information, are of paramount importance,\u201d the company said in a blog post<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n After taking over Twitter, Musk has tried to dismiss the social network\u2019s role as an arbitrator of truth, eliminated multiple staffers from the moderation team and expanded the role of Community Notes \u2014 the company\u2019s crowdsourced fact-checking product \u2014 to do the heavy lifting.<\/p>\n Over the weekend, the Anonymous Operations account called out Twitter\u2019s lack of action on a Russian official\u2019s tweet encouraging the \u201cdisappearance of Ukraine.\u201d In response, Musk said that all news is \u201csome degree of propaganda\u201d and he is of the view that people should be able to decide for themselves, indicating that Twitter won\u2019t interfere in matters that might have violated the social network\u2019s speech policy under the previous management.<\/p>\n I\u2019m told Putin called me a war criminal for helping Ukraine, so he\u2019s not exactly my best friend.<\/p>\n All news is to some degree propaganda. Let people decide for themselves.<\/p>\n \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Under Musk, Twitter has taken stern media-related decisions. Last week, the company blocked replies, retweets and likes to posts with Substack links<\/a> after the newsletter platform unveiled a Twitter clone called Notes<\/a>. Twitter has since lifted most of those restrictions, however it still seems to be limiting searches with Substack links<\/a>.<\/p>\n Separately, Musk labeled NPR a \u201cUS state affiliate media\u201d and then changed it to \u201cGovernment Funded Media\u201d after outcry. Other publications such as BBC, PBS and Voice of America have also been labeled as \u201cGovernment Funded Media.\u201d The BBC has raised an objection<\/a> to this label and said that the organization is funded by \u201cthe British public through the license fee.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, Musk removed the checkmark from The New York Times\u2019 account<\/a> after the publication refused to pay for Twitter\u2019s paid verification service. The company initially planned to remove legacy verification marks on April 1<\/a>, but hasn\u2019t moved ahead with it yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n <\/br><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n\n
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