Twitter expands on how it identifies state-owned accounts, extends labels to accounts from G7 countries and to countries that have accused Twitter of state-linked information activities, as well as heads of state for the countries in an effort to context for the Twitter community.
The change comes as Twitter is being investigated internationally for permanently banning former President Trump from the platform.
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In August, Twitter extended account labels to the accounts of key government officials and accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, the Russian Federation and China.
The labels identified accounts for key government officials, including foreign ministers, institutional entities, ambassadors, official spokesmen and key diplomatic leaders, in an effort to identify senior officials who are “the official voice” of the state in terms of foreign policy.
But Twitter will expand these labels next week to the type of accounts in G7 countries – including Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Twitter will also add labels to countries that have accused them of ‘state-sponsored information operations’. These countries include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Honduras, Ecuador, Egypt and Cuba.
Twitter explained that government accounts representing the countries deliberately inflated the conversation.
The extensive policy will also nominate personal accounts of heads of state. At the time of August 2020, Twitter only marked official accounts of heads of state – meaning that at the time, the personal account of former President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump, was not marked, but his official account, @POTUS. Trump has since been permanently suspended from the platform.
Twitter told Fox News that they updated their policies because they saw elected officials using their personal accounts to practice diplomacy. This specifically pointed to French President Emanuel Macron tweeting on his personal account about Alexei Navalny in recent weeks.
Twitter told Fox News that the personal accounts for President Joe Biden, @JoeBiden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, @KamalaHarris, will be described as the official government accounts.
However, Twitter came under fire for removing Trump from the platform indefinitely, claiming that his continued use of his account endangers the incitement to violence, while allowing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to continue using Twitter, despite his threatening tweets against the US and its use the platform to threaten attacks on 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 considered them’ sabbaths’, which is part of the speech of world leaders in cooperation with other countries. ‘
“Speeches against our own people or own citizens of a country believe we are different and could do more immediate harm,” Dorsey added.
But Twitter told Fox News on Thursday that the new policy would name ‘only the accounts of verified officials, organizations and institutions’, pointing out 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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Referring to a general reference to Khamenei’s account, Twitter said “no account is above the Twitter rules.”
Meanwhile, Twitter said the labels would help people contextualize ‘the views they see’, and provide the public with the information necessary to ‘make informed decisions about the origin of an account and its possible intent.’
Twitter said the company was expanding this action in a ‘principled way’, saying it “uses the institutions and global conventions for nation-states and how states have behaved to shape our approach.”
Twitter pointed to lower-level embassies from China, or Russia, that do not have name recognition, but that speak on behalf of the country and tweet inflammatory things. The company said the labels are meant to help the average Twitter user understand and have the context of who and what the accounts are connected to.
The company said it believes this approach is ‘the most thoughtful and judicious’ way and respects their existing forums for international dialogue and cooperation.
Meanwhile, Twitter said this week that even if Trump were to be re-elected, he would not have access to his account again, and maintained that his suspension from the platform is ‘permanent’.
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The social media giant last month, a few days after the riot in Capitol, announced the permanent suspension of Trump’s account, @realDonaldTrump, “due to the risk of further incitement to violence.”
“As we noted when we undertook to maintain the account in January, I can confirm that the suspension from our service is permanent,” a Twitter spokesman told Fox News.
Twitter chief financial officer Ned Segal was asked during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” whether Trump would be allowed on the platform again if he decided to run again.
“If you are removed from the platform, you are removed from the platform,” Segal said.
Twitter’s decision to suspend Trump permanently comes after the company considered a number of its tweets related to the violent protests at the Capitol to be inflammatory.
Despite criticism, Twitter also took action over Khamenei’s account last month, removing its tweet claiming that US and other Western countries’ coronavirus vaccines are ‘completely unreliable’.
The move came after Twitter announced in December that it would expand its existing rules to combat misleading tweets about COVID-19 vaccines and pledged to remove “the most damaging, misleading information” about them.
A Twitter spokesman told Fox News the tweet “violates the Twitter rules, specifically our misleading information policy of COVID-19.”
A Twitter spokesperson told Fox News that ‘the owner of the account must remove the offending Tweet before re-accessing his account. ‘
Twitter’s enforcement action against Khamenei’s tweet does not stop a 12 – hour lockout, but only needs to remove the tweet and acknowledge the enforcement action before it can use the account again.
The comprehensive policy will take effect on 17 February.