Twitter Changes Have Caused , Surge in Propaganda, Study Suggests.
On April 24, a study was published which found that Twitter accounts operated by authoritarian governments have benefited from recent changes to the platform.
Associated Press reports that the study suggests that changes to Twitter made it easier for them to attract new followers and disseminate propaganda and misinformation.
One of those changes include no longer labeling state-run media and propaganda agencies.
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The other change is no longer preventing content from those agencies from being automatically recommended to users.
According to the study by Reset, Russian state media accounts have seen their views climb by 33% in recent weeks.
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AP reports that increase equals over 125,000 views per post.
Meanwhile, state media agencies run by Iran and China have also seen similar increases in views.
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The use of state-run media labels was quietly discontinued after NPR and other outlets protested receiving the same mark.
The use of state-run media labels was quietly discontinued after NPR and other outlets protested receiving the same mark.
Previously, Twitter CEO Elon Musk said he sees little difference between state-funded news run by authoritarian governments and outlets operating in the U.S. All news sources are partially propaganda, some more than others, Elon Musk, Twitter CEO, via Associated Press
