Musk’s new policy on Twitter (X) contributes to the spread of rospropaganda – EU

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The reach and influence of Kremlin-backed accounts increased significantly in the first half of 2023, thanks in part to the removal of X.

Elon Musk’s social network X (formerly Twitter) was instrumental in getting Russian propaganda about Ukraine to reach more people than before the war.

According to The Washington Post , this is evidenced by the results of a study published this week by the European Commission.

“Over the course of 2022, the audience and reach of pro-Kremlin social media accounts increased substantially across Europe,” the study says. Preliminary analysis shows that the reach and influence of Kremlin-backed accounts further increased in the first half of 2023, in part due to the lifting of Twitter security standards.

The study was conducted by the non-profit think tank Reset, which advocates for stronger oversight of digital platforms.

It is noted that in the study, Reset relied on publicly available information, such as the number of interactions that problematic content attracted to people who did not follow the account that posted it.

Thus, the study showed that, in addition to X Mask, the spread of Russian propaganda was also significant in Instagram, Telegram and Facebook, owned by the Meta corporation.

“In absolute numbers, pro-Kremlin accounts continue to reach the largest audience on the Meta platforms. Meanwhile, the audience size of Kremlin-backed Telegram accounts has more than tripled,” the study says.

While the main study period was 2022, “pro-Kremlin account reach increased between January and May 2023, with average engagement on online platforms up 22 percent,” Reset found.

However, this increase in reach was largely driven by Twitter, where engagement rose 36 percent after Elon Musk decided to lift mitigation measures for accounts backed by the Kremlin, arguing that “all news is propaganda to some degree.”

Musk is experimenting with security standards at X

Musk, after buying Twitter, which he later renamed X, actively experimented with the account verification process in search of a way to increase the network’s monetization. Now anyone can get a blue tick for $8 per month . In parallel, Twitter is experimenting with an algorithmic feed – now only verified accounts appear in it.

In early March, the BBC published the results of its own journalistic investigation, which showed that Twitter had stopped fighting Russian and Chinese propaganda . As it turned out, Musk simply fired the team responsible for content moderation.

In addition, in April, Twitter lifted restrictions on the Kremlin’s accounts – now the accounts of Putin and the Russian Foreign Ministry are recommended to users without any restrictions.

(C)UNIAN 2023