In 2020, Twitter began flagging official government and state-controlled media accounts and blocked the latter from appearing in search results. Last year, the company announced that it would also start noticing tweets that link to government-controlled sites (such as RT.com or the Global Times). Users saw a “Be aware” flag on such posts, warning that Russia or China had editorial influence on the material.

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Recent tests by Semafor have found that some media outlets are missing such marks – despite Twitter’s policy still in place. When journalists tried to search for Izvestia, People’s Daily or Xinhua on the platform, their accounts were suggested as some of the top search results.

The next changes may further repel advertisers – Elon Musk previously announced that he will begin to cancel the old blue verification checkmarks, which were used to mark famous and influential people. From now on, any person can purchase this “distinction” as part of a subscription to Twitter Blue for $8 per month, for companies the price is “slightly higher” – $1,000 per month and another $50 for each additional account with a golden tick. Last month, Musk reported that Twitter ad sales had fallen 50% since October.

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Earlier, Voice of America’s Wenhao Ma found that Twitter had started automatically recommending Chinese government publications to users through its For You page.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, the tag “US government-affiliated media” appeared on National Public Radio’s account. Previously, the social network said that it would not add labels to publications such as “BBC in the UK or NPR in the US” because they maintain editorial independence. The NPR name later disappeared from Twitter’s policy.

In a statement, NPR president John Lansing said he was “thrilled” by the designation:

“It’s not acceptable for Twitter to call us that way. NPR and our member stations are supported by millions of listeners who rely on our independent, fact-based journalism,” he said.

According to the company, its main sources of income are corporate sponsorships and royalties paid by NPR member organizations. On average, less than 1% of NPR’s annual operating budget comes in the form of grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and federal agencies and departments. A spokeswoman for NPR said the company has asked Twitter to remove the hashtag.

Musk, in response to NPR’s claims, simply posted a screenshot of the policy on his account with the caption, “Seems right.”

Seems accurate pic.twitter.com/nx5TmJY7GX

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2023

Musk seems intent on using his position as CEO of Twitter to make life difficult for journalists he doesn’t like. It has blocked some in the past, and recently removed the verification badge from the main New York Times account because the publication refused to pay for the privilege.

With the arrival of the billionaire, Twitter’s moderation system underwent changes – he fired part of the company’s trust and security teams, and the former head of the department, Yoel Roth, resigned. The site has already faced an influx of bots and trolls, and according to experts, the number of hateful tweets, including anti-Semitic posts, is increasing on the social network.

Twitter’s actions are not an anomaly in the business world, as many companies struggle to comply with China’s demands. Disney, for example, edited a film to align with the Chinese Communist Party, and the National Basketball Association punished an executive who spoke out in support of political freedom in Hong Kong.

Musk is known to have large business interests in China, and he plans to visit the country this month and meet with the prime minister. However, Twitter’s new rules may also be caused by technical problems – as the company has very few engineers left after massive layoffs.

According to a 2021 analysis by the China Media Project, the labeling of Chinese state media helped reduce the size of their Twitter audience.