Twitter confirms it removed 3000 accounts connected to state-linked information operations
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Twitter confirmed this morning that it has removed more than 3,000 accounts which were operating as state-linked information operations.
The Twitter accounts that were removed were linked to operations attributed to six countries, including Mexico, China and Russia, the company said in a blog post.
Of the 3,465 accounts removed, 2,160 were linked to operations attributed to China.
The company said it will start the Twitter moderation research consortium in early 2022 to study platform governance issues.
Matt Navarra, social media consultant, said: “I don’t think the move is massively surprising considering the additional transparency that social media sites are bringing”.
Drawing comparisons to Facebook (Meta), he expects that this level of transparency will continue as more and more countries begin to clamp down on big tech; the move shows how Twitter is finally “playing ball” in Navarra’s view.
Additionally, the social media giant introduced a new policy earlier this week, which stated that photos or videos of private individuals that are posted without their permission will be taken down at their request.
Whilst some praised the move, others questioned whether the policy would be practical to enforce.
It comes as Jack Dorsey stepped down as chief exec at the beginning of the week, and passed the baton to the relatively unknown executive Parag Agrawal.
Danni Hewson, AJ Bell financial analyst, said: “Parag Agrawal’s appointment wasn’t met with particular excitement by investors and the share price has struggled. This is a step, a small one, but an important one if he’s to win over those who’ve been less than impressed with his ascension.”