Twitter removed more than 3000 accounts operating as foreign state-linked information operations from its platform. The accounts were linked to operations attributed to six countries, including Mexico, China and Russia.
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Twitter removed accounts to limit the information manipulation campaigns
The micro-blogging social media platform Twitter removed accounts to limit the influence of information manipulation campaigns on the web. Twitter said in a blog post, “Since that first disclosure in October 2018, we’ve shared 37 datasets of attributed platform manipulation campaigns originating from 17 countries, spanning more than 200 million Tweets and nine terabytes of media.”
The accounts removed were linked to operations attributed to six countries, including Mexico, China and Russia. Of the 3,465 removed accounts, 2,160 were linked to operations linked with China. The company also said it will start the Twitter moderation research consortium in early 2022 to study platform governance issues. Twitter said in a statement, “The vast majority of the accounts were part of a network that amplified Chinese Communist Party narratives related to the treatment of the Uyghur population in Xinjiang.”
More information related to the purge
Twitter removed more than 3000 accounts that were violating its platform manipulation and spam policies. The details released by Twitter are as under:
- Mexico – 276 accounts were removed that shared primarily civic content, supporting government initiatives related to public health and political parties.
- China – The majority of accounts removed were linked to China, with over 2,000 of them amplifying Chinese Communist Party narratives related to the treatment of the Uyghur population in Xinjiang.
- Russia – 16 accounts linked to the IRA and 50 accounts that attacked the civilian Libyan government and actors that supported it were removed.
- Tanzania – 268 accounts were removed, who used to file bad faith reports on Twitter, targeting members and supporters of FichuaTanzania and its founder.
- Uganda – Twitter removed 418 accounts engaged in coordinated inauthentic activity supporting Ugandan presidential incumbent Museveni and his party.
- Venezuela – The social media platform removed a network of 277 Venezuelan accounts that amplified accounts, hashtags, and topics supporting the government and its official narratives.
Source: Twitter Blog
