The new policy comes hours after the company, along with Facebook, released information they said detailed a covert state-backed social media campaign run from China has sought to undermine ongoing demonstrations in Hong Kong.
“We want to protect healthy discourse and open conversation,” Twitter said in a statement posted on its website. “We believe that there is a difference between engaging in conversation with accounts you choose to follow and the content you see from advertisers in your Twitter experience which may be from accounts you’re not currently following.”
The company said the new policy would only apply to “news media entities that are either financially or editorially controlled by the state.” That does not include taxpayer-funded entities, including independent public broadcasters, Twitter said.
An account that was titled “Dream News” tweeted about the demonstrators, “We don’t want you radical people in Hong Kong. Just get out of here!”
The accounts posted in multiple languages and at least some of them appeared to target American audiences. One account, that was set up more than 10 years ago, said in its Twitter bio, “Conservative News from the USA and Abroad. #Catholic Defender of the Constitution of the United States.” The account claimed to support President Donald Trump.
Other accounts also purported to be operated by people in the United States, listing locations like Chicago and Long Beach, California.
Twitter initially identified the network and shared details about the accounts with Facebook. Then, Facebook identified about a dozen pages, accounts and groups that were tied to the operation.
The Facebook pages were followed by about 15,000 accounts, the company said.
Twitter said many of the accounts accessed its platform using virtual private networks because Twitter is blocked in China.
China, of course, is not alone in using social media to spread unrest. Covert campaigns have been tied to Russia and Iran, among other countries.
CNN’s Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report.
Source : Nbcnewyork