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Twitter deletes 170,000 accounts linked to China's COVID-19 spin, Hong Kong protests

WION Web Team
CaliforniaUpdated: Jun 12, 2020, 04:47 PM IST
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The Twitter logo and binary cyber codes are seen in this illustration. Photograph:(Reuters)

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Twitter had earlier deleted accounts during the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in August last year and it took help of the same system to uncover the Chinese network.

US social media giant Twitter said on Friday that it had removed thousands of accounts linked to China, Russia, and Turkey's state propaganda.

Twitter said the accounts linked to China were the highest with 23,750 "highly engaged core" accounts and 150,000 "amplifier" accounts.

"They were tweeting predominantly in Chinese languages and spreading geopolitical narratives favorable to the Communist Party of China, while continuing to push deceptive narratives about the political dynamics in Hong Kong," Twitter said.

According to reports, the accounts praised China's response to COVID-19 and others which were linked to Hong Kong protests.

Twitter had earlier deleted accounts during the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in August last year and it took help of the same system to uncover the Chinese network.

The company said the network had "failed to achieve considerable traction" but was "involved in a range of manipulative and coordinated activities". The accounts have been placed in Twitter's archive.

Twitter also took down 7,340 Turkey state propaganda accounts and 1,152 Russian accounts.

Twitter is banned from China along with other US sites including Facebook, Google and YouTube.