Twitter Removes Restrictions On Russian Government Accounts A Year After Restricting Access

The official account of the Russian nationality has been restored again by Twitter. (photo: twitter @KremlinRussia_E)

JAKARTA - Twitter has reportedly removed restrictions on Russian government accounts that were previously enforced since a year ago. Vladimir Putin's accounts and the Russian Embassy have re-emerged in the search results and recommendations on the platform.

This change was discovered by The Telegraph and allegedly due to a change in policy on Twitter. A former Twitter employee stated that the change was related to removing part of Twitter's policy regarding government account labels and affiliated with the state.

Previously, Twitter had a section that said it would not recommend or expand the reach of accounts or Tweets with the label, especially those related to state-affiliated media. However, Twitter has now removed the share as a whole.

This platform will neither promote nor limit their accounts, but we will rapidly address any attempts at gaming the system.It is a weak move to engage in censorship just because others do so. Letting our press be free when theirs is not demonstrates strength.

— Harry Bōlz (@elonmusk) April 9, 2023

On the weekend, Twitter owner Elon Musk also said that Twitter would move government accounts and be affiliated with countries from recommendations and restrictions. He also stressed that Twitter would soon tackle efforts trying to manipulate the system.

History shows that the Kremlin often uses Twitter accounts to manipulate narratives. Therefore, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, Twitter implemented a policy limiting the amplification of government accounts from countries that block the flow of information.

Since taking over Twitter, Musk has tried to get rid of the platform's role as an arbitrary truth, remove some staff from the moderation team, and expand the role of the Community Notes - crowd-based fact-checking product - to take over the tough task.

On the weekend, the Anonymous Operations account noted a lack of Twitter's actions over a tweet by Russian officials pushing for Ukraine's "loss". However, Musk said that all the news was "propaganda within a few degrees" and people should have been able to decide on their own, suggesting that Twitter would not intervene in issues that violate the platform's speech policies under prior management.

Under Musk's leadership, Twitter has made firm media-related decisions. Last week, the platform blocked replies, retweets, and likes on posts with the Substack link after the newsletter platform launched a Twitter clone called Notes. Twitter has removed most of the restrictions, but appears to still limit searches with Substack links.

Separately, Musk called the NPR a "US state affiliate media" and then turned it into a "government-funded media" after controversy. Other publications such as the BBC, PBS, and Voice of America have also been labeled as "government-funded media". The BBC has rejected the label and said the organization is funded by "the British public through a license".