Twitter is expanding the way it identifies accounts affiliated with states, extending labels to accounts from G7 countries and nations that Twitter has accused of state-linked information operations, as well as heads of state in those countries in an effort to provide context for o Twitter community.
The shift comes as Twitter faces international scrutiny for permanently banning former President Trump from the platform.
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Twitter in August expanded account labels to the accounts of key government officials and accounts belonging to media entities affiliated with the state in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, the Russian Federation and China.
The labels identified accounts of key government officials, including foreign ministers, institutional entities, ambassadors, official spokespersons and top diplomatic leaders, in an effort to identify senior officials who are “the official voice” of the state in terms of foreign policy. .
But Twitter, next week, will expand these labels to these types of accounts in G7 countries – including Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Twitter will also add labels to countries that they have accused of “state-supported information operations”. These countries include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Honduras, Ecuador, Egypt and Cuba.
Twitter explained that government accounts representing these nations “purposely inflated the conversation”.
The expanded policy will also label personal accounts of heads of state. During the August 2020 launch, Twitter only labeled official accounts of heads of state – that is, at the time, former President Donald Trump’s personal account, @realDonaldTrump, was not labeled, but his official account, @POTUS, he was. Since then, Trump has been permanently suspended from the platform.
Twitter told Fox News that they updated their policy because they saw elected officials use their personal accounts to get involved in diplomacy – specifically targeting French President Emanuel Macron in recent weeks tweeting on his personal account about Alexei Navalny.
Twitter told Fox News that the personal accounts of President Joe Biden, @JoeBiden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, @KamalaHarris, will be labeled as official government accounts.
Twitter, however, was criticized for removing Trump from the platform indefinitely, claiming that his continued use of his account was at risk of inciting violence, while allowing Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to continue using Twitter despite his threatening tweets against the US and the platform to threaten attacks against Israel.
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During a Senate hearing in October, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey explained that Khameni’s tweets “did not violate our terms of service because we consider them ‘saber-rattles’, which is part of the speech of world leaders in concert with others countries. “
“The speech against our own people or the citizens of a country that we believe is different and can cause more immediate damage,” added Dorsey.
But Twitter told Fox News on Thursday that the new policy “will only label the accounts of verified employees, organizations and institutions”, noting that Khamenei’s account is not considered verified on the platform.
Twitter told Fox News that the company recognizes Khamenei as “a theocratic leader and religious figure” as opposed to a traditional state leader.
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Pointing widely to Khamenei’s account, Twitter said that “no account is above the Twitter Rules”.
Meanwhile, Twitter said that the labels will help people “contextualize the views they see” and provide the public with the information they need “to make informed decisions about an account’s origins and potential intent”.
Twitter said the company is expanding this action in a “principled way” and said it using “global institutions and meetings for nation states and how states have behaved in our service to shape our approach”.
Twitter pointed to lower-level ambassadors from China or Russia, who have no name recognition, but who speak for the country, tweeting inflammatory things. The company said the labels are intended to help the average Twitter user understand and have the context of who and what the accounts are affiliated with.
The company said it believes that this approach is “the most careful and judicious way” and respects its existing forums for international dialogue and cooperation.
Meanwhile, Twitter said this week that even if Trump could run again, he would not regain access to his account and said his suspension from the platform was “permanent”.
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The social media giant announced the permanent suspension of Trump’s account, @realDonaldTrump, last month, just days after the Capitol riot, “due to the risk of further incitement to violence”.
“As we noted when we took enforcement measures against the account in January, I can confirm that the suspension of our service is permanent,” a Twitter spokesman told Fox News.
Twitter CFO Ned Segal, during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”, was asked whether Trump would be allowed to return to the platform if he decided to run again.
“If you are removed from the platform, you will be removed from the platform,” said Segal.
Twitter’s decision to suspend Trump permanently came after the company considered a series of its tweets related to the violent Capitol protests to be inflammatory.
Twitter, despite criticism, also acted last month against Khamenei’s account, removing its tweet that claimed that coronavirus vaccines in the United States and other Western nations were “completely untrustworthy”.
The move came after Twitter in December announced that it would expand its existing rules to combat misleading tweets about the COVID-19 vaccines and pledged to remove “the most harmful and misleading information” about them.
A Twitter spokesman told Fox News that the tweet “violated Twitter rules, specifically our COVID-19 misleading information policy”.
A Twitter spokesman told Fox News that “the account owner will be required to delete the violating Tweet before regaining access to his account”.
Twitter’s action against Khamenei’s tweet does not impose a 12-hour block, but instead only required him to delete the tweet and acknowledge the execution action before he could use the account again.
The expanded policy takes effect on February 17.