Twitter to Restrict Belarus State Media Posts

Twitter confirmed that it will control twits posted by Belarus state media and their staff members. The social media company says that the new measures are aimed at fighting misinformation about the current military conflict in Ukraine. Below are the details of the initiative. 

No Misinformation

Twitter has joined other popular social media platforms and now labels accounts of state news websites and broadcasters to notify its users that these organizations are state-backed and may spread misinformation. In addition to labeling, the company limits these accounts in recommendations and manual search. 

Twitter's head of site integrity Yoel Roth reported that the company will label 15 large state-backed Belarus accounts, including BelTa, which has the largest following amongst Belarus accounts in the category. BelTa’s account has over 37,000 followers on Twitter. 

According to Roth, there are many pieces of evidence that Belarus state media and their Russian affiliates are actively participating in the current information warfare. The company also observes that Belarus media are employing social media platforms to spread distracting and confusing messages that are developed by the government. 

Global Measures

Twitter says that labeling already works in over 20 big countries and will eventually expand all over the globe. The focus on Belarus and Russian state media is only due to the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is the hottest topic on the news. The social media giant can’t prohibit state media to post completely to avoid blockages initiated by the local government. What is your opinion about Twitter’s response? Should it do anything else? Share the news with friends and join the discussion in the comments.