Twitter Bans State-Sponsored Media Ads Over Hong Kong Propaganda

UPDATE 4:40 p.m. ET: Twitter will ban all ads from state-run news agencies after several Chinese government-controlled media outlets used them to promote content critical of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

"Going forward, we will not accept advertising from state-controlled news media entities. Any affected accounts will be free to continue to use Twitter to engage in public conversation, just not our advertising products," the company said in a blog post.

The move comes after reports that Chinese state-run media agencies—including Xinhua, China Daily, and TV broadcaster CGTN—bought the ads. Today, Twitter and Facebook both said they've recently detected numerous fake accounts on their platforms trying to spread propaganda against the protests in Hong Kong.

At least a few of the accounts masqueraded as fake new agencies, such as "Dream News" and "Hong Kong Political Attack," which tried to "undermine the legitimacy and political positions," of the protest movement, Twitter said in a separate post. "Based on our intensive investigations, we have reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinated state-backed operation."

In total, the company said it detected 936 accounts engaged in the misinformation. Although China bans access to Twitter from within the country, the accounts were able to access the social media platform through VPNs and over a "specific unblocked IP addresses" from within China, it said.

Twitter also noticed the activity spreading to Facebook, which it notified. Facebook said it removed seven fake pages, three groups, and five user accounts involved in the propaganda campaign on its platform.

On the ad front, Twitter said it's going to determine which media outlets are state-run by relying on metrics from research groups such as the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, the Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index, the European Journalism Centre's Media Landscapes Report, and others.

"We want to protect healthy discourse and open conversation. To that end, we believe that there is a difference between engaging in conversation with accounts you choose to follow and the content you see from advertisers in your Twitter experience which may be from accounts you're not currently following," the company said.

The ad ban goes into effect in 30 days and no new ad campaigns will be accepted starting today. Exempted from the new policy are taxpayer-funded entities, such as public broadcasters. A carve-out has also been made for state-run media outlets that focus solely on entertainment, sports, or travel content.

Original story 1:55 p.m. ET:
Twitter is facing criticism for letting the Chinese government buy ads to denounce the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.

State-run news agency Xinhua circulated the ads on the social media platform, which painted the anti-Chinese government protests as a menace to society with no support from local Hong Kong residents.

"Two months on, the escalating violence in Hong Kong has taken a heavy toll on the social order. All walks of life in Hong Kong called for a break to be put on the blatant violence and for order to be restored," reads one promoted tweet from Xinhua, according to Pinboard, a bookmarking service for social media sites.

Another promoted tweet said: 'China is our home, our motherland.' Hong Kong citizens call for stopping violence, ending chaos and restoring order in the city."

However, it's clear the protests have been attracting a massive amount of sustained support from the local populace. On Sunday, an estimated 1.7 million people in Hong Kong took part in a public demonstration, following 11 weeks of protests that've been recently calling for democratic reforms.

The developer of Pinboard, Polish developer Maciej Ceglowski, blasted the Xinhua ads as paid propaganda that Twitter has been willing to accept. "What China is doing is clear. If these peaceful, extremely self-disciplined protesters who enjoy the clear backing of the overwhelming majority of Hong Kongers can be discredited, it will be easier to crack down. What the fuck Twitter thinks it's doing is less clear," Pinboard said in a follow-up tweet.

In response, Twitter told PCMag it removed the ad cited by Pinboard for violating its ad policies on inappropriate content, which bans advertisements that can be considered inflammatory, provocative, or as political campaigning. Twitter also appears to have removed many other ads Xinhua was promoting concerning the Hong Kong protests. However, the news agency's public Twitter accounts remain up.

It isn't the first time a state-run news agency has been accused of spreading misinformation via Twitter ads. In 2017, Twitter banned ads from Russian media groups RT and Sputnik International on claims they helped the Russian government circulate propaganda during the 2016 presidential election.

Although Twitter is blocked in mainland China, a country that's cut off access to many foreign internet sites, the social media platform remains accessible in Hong Kong.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated with the announcements from Twitter and Facebook regarding the misinformation campaigns.