Twitter has made the bold move of banning Russia Today and Sputnik from advertising on its service following revelations the two businesses tried to interfere with the US election on behalf of the Russian government.
The social network said it would also be donating all the money Russia Today has ever spent on advertising (around $1.9m) to support external research into how Twitter can be used in elections. It will include how automation can be used to influence voters and how it can be used to present misinformation to social networkers.
Twitter revealed Russia Today spent $274,100 on its US election campaign while the rest of the $1.9m total was spent on unrelated advertising campaigns since it became an advertiser in 2011.
"This decision was based on the retrospective work we've been doing around the 2016 U.S. election and the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that both RT and Sputnik attempted to interfere with the election on behalf of the Russian government," the company said in a statement. "We did not come to this decision lightly, and are taking this step now as part of our ongoing commitment to help protect the integrity of the user experience on Twitter."
The company added that it isn't investigating into any other companies and it will let Sputnik and Russia Today continue to use the platform, but as organic users rather than paid advertisers.
"This decision is restricted to these two entities based our internal investigation of their behavior as well as their inclusion in the January 2017 DNI report," Twitter said.
Facebook is also looking into the companies advertising on its social network during the US Elections and is helping the US intelligence agencies in their enquiries.
-
M&S suspends online sales as 'cyber incident' continuesNews Marks & Spencer (M&S) has informed customers that all online and app sales have been suspended as the high street retailer battles a ‘cyber incident’.
-
Manners cost nothing, unless you’re using ChatGPTOpinion Polite users are costing OpenAI millions of dollars each year – but Ps and Qs are a small dent in what ChatGPT could cost the planet
-
Who owns the data used to train AI?Analysis Elon Musk says he owns it – but Twitter’s terms and conditions suggest otherwise
-
White House targets close relationship with AI CEOs on safetyNews Biden admin has called for greater controls on AI, while stressing the tech’s importance
-
US starts exploring “accountability measures” to keep AI companies in checkNews The move follows Italy’s recent ban on ChatGPT due to data privacy concerns
-
Elon Musk confirms Twitter CEO resignation, allegations of investor influence raisedNews Questions have surfaced over whether Musk hid the true reason why he was being ousted as Twitter CEO behind a poll in which the majority of users voted for his resignation
-
Businesses to receive unique Twitter verification badge in platform overhaulNews There will be new verification systems for businesses, governments, and individuals - each receiving differently coloured checkmarks
-
Ex-Twitter tech lead says platform's infrastructure can sustain engineering layoffsNews Barring major changes the platform contains the automated systems to keep it afloat, but cuts could weaken failsafes further
-
‘Hardcore’ Musk decimates Twitter staff benefits, mandates weekly code reviewsNews The new plans from the CEO have been revealed through a series of leaked internal memos
-
Twitter could charge $20 a month for 'blue tick' verification, following Musk takeoverNews Developers have allegedly been given just seven days to implement the changes or face being fired
