Twitter Blocks What It Describes As ‘State-Backed Chinese Misinformation Campaign’ Against Hong Kong Protests

Riyaz Patel

As mainstream media outlets blasted Twitter for allowing a Chinese news agency to advertise its reporting on the Hong Kong protests, the platform promptly announced it would ban all “state-controlled” media advertising within a month.

“Going forward, we will not accept advertising from state-controlled news media entities,” Twitter announced Monday afternoon.

What exactly amounts to a “state controlled” media will be “informed by established academic and civil society leaders in this space,” Twitter said.

The devil, as usual, is in the details.

The policy will not apply to “taxpayer-funded entities, including independent public broadcasters,” the company said, in language that seems tailor-made for outlets such as the BBC or Voice of America (VOA), and seems both broad and flexible at