What you need to know
- Twitter is making two big changes to its platform because of the war in Ukraine.
- It is going to require the removal of tweets from government or state-affiliated media accounts depicting prisoners of war.
- It is also going to stop recommending and amplifying accounts "belonging to states that limit access to free information and are engaged in armed interstate conflict."
Twitter says it is making two major changes to its platform as part of its ongoing efforts to protect the conversation taking place regarding the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
As announced by Twitter's head of site integrity Yoel Roth, from Tuesday, Twitter is going to require the removal of certain tweets depicting prisoners of war:
Beginning today, we will require the removal of Tweets posted by government or state-affiliated media accounts which share media that depict prisoners of war in the context of the war in Ukraine. We're doing so in line with international humanitarian law, and in consultation with international human rights groups. To protect essential reporting on the war, some exceptions apply under this guidance where there is a compelling public interest or newsworthy POW content.
Furthermore, Twitter is going to stop amplifying or recommending any government accounts "belonging to states that limit access to free information and are engaged in armed interstate conflict" regardless of whether Twitter is blocked in that country or not.
That means they won't recommend the accounts or amplify them on the home timeline, explore, search, or other places on Twitter. The company says this will "drastically reduce" the chance that people see these tweets unless they follow the accounts in question.
Russia has blocked Twitter in the country, as well as Facebook, but both sites are accessible through the use of a VPN. Companies including Apple have vastly amended their operations in Russia, with Apple no longer selling any of its products because of the invasion.
