Twitter will identify the accounts of government media outlets
Twitter said on Thursday through a blog post that the company will henceforth label the accounts of government media outlets, their senior staff, and some key government officials.
Twitter said on Thursday through a blog post that the company will henceforth label the accounts of government media outlets, their senior staff, and some key government officials.
According to a Twitter spokesperson, the accounts of Russia’s Sputnik, RT, and China’s Xinhua News are among the media organizations that will be labeled by Twitter. However, he refused to give a complete list of institutions.
Twitter said in the blog, ‘We believe that if a media account is directly or indirectly related to a government system, then people have the right to know it. The company also said that it will also stop amplifying these accounts or their tweets through its recommendation system.
The social media giant, while defining the government-related media, said that these are where editorial control is effected or production and distribution are controlled through financial resources or political pressure.
Twitter said that government-funded but media outlets with editorial independence such as the NPR in the US or the BBC in the UK would not be labeled. A Twitter spokesperson also confirmed that there are no US media outlets on this list.
