Twitter expands labels to G7 state-affiliated accounts, countries accused of undermining rules

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Twitter is expanding how it identifies state-affiliated accounts, extending labels to accounts from G7 countries, and to nations that Twitter has accused of state-linked information operations, as well as heads of states for those countries in an effort to provide context for the Twitter community.

The change comes as Twitter faces international scrutiny for permanently banning former President Trump from the platform.

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Twitter, in August, expanded account labels to the accounts of key government officials and accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities in the United States, France, United Kingdom, Russian Federation and China.

The labels identified accounts fo key government officials, including foreign ministers, institutional entities, ambassadors, official spokespeople and key diplomatic leaders, in an effort to identify senior officials who are "the official voice" of the state in terms of foreign policy.

But Twitter, next week, will expand those labels to those types of accounts in G7 countries—including Canada, Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Twitter will also add labels to countries they have accused of "state-backed information operations." Those countries include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Honduras, Ecuador, Egypt and Cuba.

Twitter explained that government accounts representing those nations have "purposefully inflated the conversation."

The expanded policy will also label personal accounts of heads of state. During the August 2020 rollout, Twitter only labeled official accounts of heads of state—meaning, at the time, former President Donald Trump’s personal account, @realDonaldTrump, was not labeled, but his official account, @POTUS, was. Trump has since been permanently suspended from the platform.

Twitter told Fox News that they have updated their policy because they have seen elected officials utilize their personal accounts to engage in diplomacy—specifically pointing to French President Emanuel Macron in recent weeks tweeting on his personal account about Alexei Navalny.

Twitter told Fox News that the personal accounts for President Joe Biden, @JoeBiden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, @KamalaHarris, will be labeled as official government accounts.

Twitter, though, has come under fire for removing Trump from the platform indefinitely, claiming his continued use of his account risked incitement of violence, while allowing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to continue using Twitter, despite his threatening tweets against the U.S. and using the platform to threaten attacks against Israel.

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During a Senate hearing in October, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey explained Khameni’s tweets did not "violate our terms of service because we considered them ‘saber rattling,’ which is part of the speech of world leaders in concert with other countries."

"Speech against our own people or a country’s own citizens we believe is different and can cause more immediate harm," Dorsey added.

But Twitter told Fox News Thursday that the new policy will "only label the accounts of verified officials, organizations and institutions," noting that Khamenei’s account is not considered verified on the platform.

Twitter told Fox News that the company recognizes Khamenei as "a theocratic leader and religious figurehead" as opposed to a traditional leader of the state.

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Broadly pointing to Khamenei’s account, Twitter said "no account is above the Twitter Rules."

Meanwhile, Twitter said that the labels will help for people to "contextualize the viewpoints they see" and will provide the public with information they need "to make informed decisions about the origins of an account and its potential intent."

Twitter said that the company is expanding on this action in a "principled way," and said it using "the institutions and global gatherings for nation states and how states have behaved on our service to shape our approach."

Twitter pointed to lower level ambassadors from China, or Russia, that don’t have name recognition but that speak on behalf of the country, tweeting inflammatory things. The company said the labels are intended to help the average Twitter user understand and have the context of who and what the accounts are affiliated with.

The company said that they believe this approach is "the most thoughtful and judicious" way and respects their existing forums for international dialogue and cooperation.

Meanwhile, Twitter this week said that even if Trump is able to run for office again, he would not regain access to his account, and maintained that his suspension from the platform is "permanent."

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The social media giant announced the permanent suspension of Trump’s account, @realDonaldTrump, last month, just days after the Capitol riot, "due to the risk of further incitement of violence."

"As we noted when we took enforcement action on the account in January, I can confirm that the suspension from our service is permanent," a Twitter spokesperson told Fox News.

Twitter’s CFO Ned Segal, during an appearance on CNBC’s "Squawk Box," was asked if Trump would be allowed back on the platform should he decide to run for office again.

"If you are removed from the platform, you are removed from the platform," Segal said.

Twitter’s decision to permanently suspend Trump came after the company deemed a number of his tweets connected to the violent protests at the Capitol as inflammatory.

Twitter, despite criticism, also took action last month on Khamenei’s account, removing his tweet that claimed that the United States’ and other western nations’ coronavirus vaccines were "completely untrustworthy."

The move came after Twitter in December announced that they would expand their existing rules to combat misleading tweets about COVID-19 vaccines and were committed to removing "the most harmful, misleading information" about them.

A Twitter spokesperson told Fox News that the tweet "violated Twitter Rules, specifically our COVID-19 misleading information policy." 

A Twitter spokesperson told Fox News that "the account owner will be required to delete the violative Tweet before regaining access to their account."

Twitter's enforcement action against Khamenei's tweet does not impose a 12-hour lockout, but instead, just required him to delete the tweet and acknowledge the enforcement action before he could use the account again.

The expanded policy takes effect on Feb. 17.