Twitter is providing two distinct labels: If you click on one of the labels, you’ll be redirected to an article explaining the policy. To start, Twitter is only applying labels from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US. The company plans to expand to “a wider range of countries” in the future. Somewhat confusingly, the company also says that it currently isn’t labeling ” the personal accounts of heads of state, as these accounts enjoy widespread name recognition, media attention, and public awareness.” While that’s understandable, there also doesn’t seem to be any harm in labeling these accounts for the people who may not be in the know. Things get a bit more interesting with the state-affiliated media category. Twitter defines them as such: These accounts and their tweets will no longer be amplified through Twitter’s recommendation system, including the home timeline, notifications, and search (this does not apply to the first category). To be clear, the company isn’t labeling media organizations that are state-financed if they are considered to have editorial independence, like the BBC in the UK or NPR in the US. Twitter said it consulted with experts to develop its categorization process, including members of its Digital and Human Rights Advisory group. If an account owner feels they’ve been improperly labeled, they can appear the decision to Twitter.
