The content of Twitter accounts related to the Russian state administration will be visible to users as before.
The tweets of Vladimir Putin’s office can be found again with a Twitter search and can be recommended to users. AOP / EPA
The restrictions placed on the Twitter accounts of the Russian government appear to have been removed, reports a British newspaper Telegraph.
The online service’s search results and recommendations again show Twitter accounts from, among others, Vladimir Putin and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Last April, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, Twitter announced that it would not recommend the Twitter accounts of regimes that restrict the free flow of information or are part of an interstate conflict. The company announced at the time that the policy would immediately affect the accounts of the Russian government. The alignment meant that the accounts would not be recommended in searches made on Twitter, on the homepage timeline or elsewhere in the service.
There is no harm
The Telegraph tested finding restricted accounts on the service last week. Based on the search, Kremlin-related accounts were found even first in the search. In addition, tweets from the Russian state administration became readable on the recommendation site of the newly created Twitter account, although the page did not follow any of the accounts.
The former Twitter boss estimates that the findings made by the Telegraph indicate that the restrictions have been removed.
– It is very unlikely that such a change would have happened by accident or without the company’s staff knowing about it and taking care of the matter, he commented anonymously to the Telegraph.
Social media plays a key role in disseminating the Kremlin’s misinformation, and social media is used to influence perceptions of the events of the war.
Billionaire Elon Musk, who now owns Twitter, has been in the headlines after commenting on Russia’s war of aggression and presenting proposals on the border conditions of peace on Twitter. Musk has also rowed and felt about the maintenance of the Starlink satellite connection he offered to Ukraine and demanded the US administration to finance the connection in Ukraine.