Information dictated by States, Twitter did not want it. But now, the social network is giving free rein to posts by media affiliated with the Russian and Chinese states. At least that is what the American media Semafor observed. He found that the cartridge “Stay informed” (keep informed, in French) had disappeared. Until now, it has warned about a possible state bias in the information.
Back in 2020, Twitter created its “state-affiliated” label to identify government-linked media accounts. The distribution of these publications was then limited. Thus, the tweets in question could not be endorsed or amplified, causing restricted visibility.
“To inform the public”
If these rules are still in effect today, Semafor’s investigation shows that they no longer apply. The US site, for example, was able to find several Russian or Chinese state-run newspapers among the top results of a search on the platform’s tool. Among them are media such as Izvestia, Xinhua or People’s Daily, each with the mention “Affiliated with a state”.
These changes may be related to recent statements by Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter. The billionaire mentioned at the beginning of March that the affiliation to a State could not be limited to the financing or editorial control of a medium.
This Wednesday, American radio strongly protested against Twitter. The platform applied a “State Affiliate” label to the outlets. However, the National Public Radio assures that its writing is independent. This mention, which places it at the same level as RT or Sputnik, is “unacceptable” according to its general director, John Lansing.
Source: BFM TV
