Newsletter
Twitter said it is adding labels to tweets from Russian state-affiliated media outlets to restrict their reach on the site. “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,” the company’s Head of Site Integrity, Yoel Roth, said. Last week, Twitter said it stopped ads and recommendations in Ukraine and Russia.
“As people look for credible information on Twitter regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we understand and take our role seriously. Our product should make it easy to understand who’s behind the content you see, and what their motivations and intentions are,” Roth added (via Engadget).
The new labels would be similar to Twitter’s COVID-19 and election misinformation labeling. While individual state media accounts already have labels, this new label will be visible next to tweets. Twitter said the labels would appear in accounts belonging to state-run media accounts in other countries over the coming weeks.
Twitter said it will review tweets to “detect platform manipulation”
Roth said web links belonging to Russian state media sources were shared more than 45,000 times per day. Since then, the platform has taken multiple steps to help people on the ground. This includes reviewing tweets for any hints of manipulated media or content.
“We’re proactively reviewing Tweets to detect platform manipulation (or other inauthentic behavior) and taking enforcement action against synthetic and manipulated media that presents a false or misleading depiction of what’s happening,” the Twitter Safety account tweeted last week.
The company is also conducting a donation campaign through its employees. Donations would go directly towards verified organizations assisting Ukrainian refugees. “Twitter will match all of the donations, as well as make a direct contribution to a partner organization,” the company further said.
Twitter hasn’t been alone in curbing Russia’s influence on its platform. Meta-owned Facebook took stringent steps against Russian state-affiliated media sources, limiting monetization services and ads access. Google and YouTube also took a similar route. The latter cut off monetization from Russia Today (RT), a state-sponsored news agency.