Twitter has lifted restrictions on accounts linked to the Kremlin after being acquired by tech billionaire Elon Musk, as evidenced by a recent review of the website.
Multiple account tests showed that Twitter’s search results, timeline, and recommendation tools now display accounts such as Vladimir Putin’s presidential account, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the UK Embassy, all of which were previously placed under restrictions during times of hostilities. This follows Twitter’s decision to no longer limit the reach of Russian state media organisations.
In the weeks following Russian troops entering Ukraine in April last year, Twitter announced it would not amplify or recommend government accounts belonging to states that limit access to free information and are engaged in armed interstate conflict, which it said would apply immediately to Russian government accounts. The platform said this would prevent the accounts from being recommended in searches, the home timeline, and other parts of the service.
However, last week’s tests by The Telegraph showed that Russian government accounts were prominently featured at the top of certain search results and appeared in suggestions for other accounts to follow. Russian government tweets were even appearing in an algorithmically-generated “For You” feed for newly created accounts that didn’t follow them.
A former Twitter executive confirmed that this represented a reversal from the measures taken last year, stating that “It would be exceedingly unlikely that this change would have happened accidentally, or without the knowledge and direction of the company’s staff.” Social media is regarded as a key component of the Kremlin’s misinformation campaigns, with its UK embassy account being condemned for claiming that Ukrainian forces were firing on their own citizens and stating that soldiers “deserve death by hanging.”
