Twitter has removed restrictions on Kremlin-linked accounts in the wake of its acquisition by tech billionaire Elon Musk, a review of the website has found.
Tests from multiple accounts showed that Twitter’s search results, timeline and recommendation tools are showing users such as Vladimir Putin’s presidential account, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and its UK Embassy – all of which had restrictions placed on them when hostilities broke out.
It comes after it emerged that Twitter was no longer limiting the reach of Russian state media organisations.
Last April, in the weeks after Russian troops entered Ukraine, Twitter said it would “not amplify or recommend government accounts belonging to states that limit access to free information and are engaged in armed interstate conflict”, saying the policy would instantly apply to Russian government accounts.
It said this would mean the accounts would not be recommended in searches, the home timeline and other parts of the service.
However, tests by The Telegraph last week showed that Russian government accounts featured at the top of certain search results and would show up in suggestions of other accounts to follow.
Russian government tweets appeared in Twitter’s algorithmically-driven “For You” feed for a newly created account, even when it did not follow them.
A former Twitter executive confirmed that this marked a reversal from last year’s measures.
They said: “It would be exceedingly unlikely that this change would have happened accidentally, or without the knowledge and direction of the company’s staff.”
Social media is seen as a key part of the Kremlin’s misinformation. Its UK embassy account has been condemned for claiming that Ukrainian forces are firing on their own citizens and saying that soldiers “deserve death by hanging”.
