Twitter to start labeling accounts of govt officials, state-affiliated media

Twitter, today, announced that it will start labeling accounts of government officials and state affiliated media on the platforms. The company said it will focus on labeling “senior officials and entities” who are the “voice of the nation state abroad”. However, labels will only be applied to accounts from China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States, the five permanent members of the United Nations (UN) Security Council.

The accounts will be of key government officials, including foreign ministers, institutional entities, ambassadors, official spokespeople and key diplomatic leaders. For state controlled media, Twitter will be labeling the companies’ own accounts, and those of their editors-in-chief and other senior staff.

“We believe this is an important step so that when people see an account discussing geopolitical issues from another country, they have context on its national affiliation and are better informed about who they represent,” the company said in a blog post.