The move reflects a new policy that Twitter has announced it is revealing to ensure the free flow of information. The policy states that Twitter will not support or propose accounts on its platform that run governments that are “involved in armed transnational conflicts” and at the same time restrict “access to free information.” The policy first refers to Russia in light of its invasion of Ukraine and follows concerns voiced by civil society groups that official Russian accounts have continued to promote war propaganda. “This measure drastically reduces the likelihood that people on Twitter will see Tweets from these accounts, unless they follow them,” Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of integrity, said in a tweet. Twitter added that the policy could be extended to cover other situations “beyond transnational armed conflicts”. The Twitter announcement comes after critics highlighted the discrepancy between the company’s previous actions to restrict Russian state media on its platform – such as content from Sputnik and Sputnik and RT – and its comparatively seamless access to Russian accounts. government. Some, including a number of US lawmakers, have called on Twitter to permanently ban Russian government accounts. Tuesday’s announcement does not have a complete ban, in another example of the tightrope that social media companies had to walk off of the Russian invasion. The Russian government has a collective millions of followers on many accounts, including several operating from the office of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s foreign and defense ministries, and diplomatic missions. Last month, Twitter removed individual tweets from the Russian embassy in the United Kingdom disputing reports of a hospital bombing in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, saying the tweets violated Twitter’s anti-violence denial policies. However, the account was left alone, prompting calls for a more systematic approach from Twitter and eventually leading to Tuesday’s new policy. In a statement on Tuesday, Twitter said it would begin to abide by a provision of the Geneva Convention prohibiting the humiliation of prisoners of war. The platform will now ask government and state media accounts to remove content that includes prisoners of war, he said, and will apply warning labels to other content with prisoners of war that may be considered in the public interest. Government and non-government users will be forced to remove content that includes prisoners of war if it is posted with the intention of mocking, insulting or calling for retaliation against them, Twitter added.
