Twitter is disclosing the details of more than 32,000 accounts it has suspended and removed from its platform after investigations found ties to state-run propaganda and disinformation operations in China, Russia and Turkey.
The tech giant has been investigating suspicious users which have been flooding social media feeds with pro-government rhetoric in a bid to manipulate public debate.
Twitter has shared the data with researchers at the US-based Stanford Internet Observatory and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) in Canberra.
“Every account and piece of content associated with these operations has been permanently removed from the service,” Twitter said in a statement.
The largest number of suspended accounts — 23,750 profiles — were linked to the Chinese Government after a surge in activity was detected at the height of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
“In general, this entire network was involved in a range of manipulative and coordinated activities,” the company said.
“They were tweeting predominantly in Chinese languages and spreading geopolitical narratives favourable to the Communist Party of China, while continuing to push deceptive narratives about the political dynamics in Hong Kong.”
Another 150,000 accounts were identified as “amplifiers”, retweeting and further spreading the propaganda.
Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-12/twitter-removes-30000-accounts-spreading-propaganda/12346330
For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY
You can watch more ABC News content on iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1
Subscribe to us on YouTube: http://ab.co/1svxLVE
Go deeper on our ABC News In-depth channel: https://ab.co/2lNeBn2
You can also like us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/abcnews.au
Or follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/abcnews_au
Or even on Twitter: http://twitter.com/abcnews
