(Bloomberg) — Twitter Inc. will begin labeling state-backed media accounts from Belarus, and tweets that share links to those media organizations, in an effort to curb misinformation about the war in Ukraine.
Twitter is already labeling posts that link to state-backed media from Russia in an effort to decrease traffic to those outlets, which have posted misleading reports about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Labeling tweets that link to state-backed media outlets decreased their reach on Twitter by 30%, said Yoel Roth, head of site integrity at Twitter.
State-backed media from Belarus is sharing similar misleading narratives to those spread by Russian state-backed media with the goal to “confuse and distract” the public about the war, Roth added.
More than 15 outlets will be affected by Twitter’s new policy, including the Belarusian Telegraph Agency. These publications will also appear lower in search results.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
