Twitter kills 32,242 propaganda accounts, Russia, China, Turkey 'state-linked information operations'

Hackers. [Shutterstock]

Russia-linked accounts supported Kremlin infowar campaigns, China bots spread ‘deceptive’ claims about COVID and Hong Kong politics

Twitter today says they've removed tens of thousands of accounts engaged in propaganda, linked to Russia, China and Turkey. Or as Twitter put it, “new state-linked information operations”, and it says “all associated accounts and content have been removed.”

Here is the official Twitter disclosure report.

Also, read the Stanford report at cyber.fsi.stanford.edu.

From Bloomberg News:

The 23,750 accounts tied to China tweeted messages, largely in Chinese languages, that supported the government and spread “deceptive” narratives about Hong Kong’s political dynamics, according to Twitter, which said that most of the accounts were discovered before they gained much traction.

Twitter also disclosed 1,152 Russia-linked accounts that were part of a network promoting the pro-Kremlin United Russia party and attacking dissidents. The accounts were associated with a media site known as Current Policy that publishes “state-backed political propaganda within Russia,” according to Twitter. “A network of accounts related to this media operation was suspended for violations of our platform manipulation policy, specifically cross-posting and amplifying content in an inauthentic, coordinated manner for political ends.”

The final batch of 7,340 accounts primarily targeted domestic audiences in Turkey. They “demonstrated strong support” for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and amplified narratives promoting the ruling AK Party. The network, which appears to be associated with the party’s youth wing, contained several compromised Twitter accounts that were connected to organizations critical of Erdogan and the Turkish government, according to the social media company.

[via techmeme.com]