Twitter Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==== Governments ==== According to documents leaked by [[Edward Snowden]] and published in July 2014, the United Kingdom's [[GCHQ]] has a tool named BIRDSONG for "automated posting of Twitter updates" and a tool named BIRDSTRIKE for "Twitter monitoring and profile collection".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28306819|title=GCHQ leak lists UK cyber-spies' hacking tools|work=BBC News|date=July 15, 2014|access-date= July 16, 2014}}</ref><ref>[https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1217406-jtrigall.html#document/p4 "JTRIG Tools and Techniques"]. Retrieved July 16, 2014.</ref> During the [[2019–20 Hong Kong protests]], [[Reactions to the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests#Other reactions|Twitter suspended a core group]] of 1,000 "fake" accounts and an associated network of 200,000 accounts for operating a [[disinformation]] campaign that was linked to the [[Chinese government]]. In their announcement, Twitter released two data sets detailing the core group's account activity.<ref>{{cite web|first1=Makena|last1=Kelly|access-date=August 28, 2019|title=Facebook and Twitter uncover Chinese trolls spreading doubts about Hong Kong protests|url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/19/20812621/twitter-facebook-china-hong-kong-protests-information-operation-disinfo|date=August 19, 2019|website=[[The Verge]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=August 28, 2019|title=Hong Kong protests: Twitter and Facebook crack down on "deceptive" accounts linked to China|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hong-kong-protests-twitter-facebook-crack-down-on-deceptive-accounts-linked-to-china/|website=[[CBS News]]|first=Ramy|last=Inocencio|date=August 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Information operations directed at Hong Kong|url=https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2019/information_operations_directed_at_Hong_Kong|website=Twitter Blog|date=August 19, 2019}}</ref> [[Geng Shuang]], the spokesperson of the Chinese [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], did not comment on the suspensions but suggested that the activity could be attributed to [[overseas Chinese]] citizens.<ref>{{cite news|access-date=August 28, 2019|title=China cries foul over Facebook, Twitter block of fake accounts|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-twitter-idUSKCN1VA0RQ|newspaper=[[Reuters]]|date=August 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=August 28, 2019|title=China Resists Charge by Twitter, Facebook of Disinformation Effort|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-resists-charge-by-twitter-facebook-of-disinformation-effort-11566339132|website=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=August 20, 2019}}</ref> On June 12, 2020, Twitter suspended over 7,000 accounts from Turkey because those accounts were fake profiles, designed to support the Turkish president, [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]], and were managed by a central authority. Turkey's communication director said that the decision was illogical, biased, and politically motivated.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ankara reacts to Twitter's move to suspend accounts|url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ankara-reacts-to-twitters-move-to-suspend-accounts-155608|website=hurriyetdailynews|date=June 13, 2020}}</ref> Turkey blocked access to Twitter twice, once after voice recordings appeared on Twitter in which Erdoğan ordered his son to stash away millions of dollars and another time for 12 hours in the aftermath of the [[2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake|earthquake of February 2023]], when Erdoğan blamed the people for a disinformation campaign as they criticized the Government for their lack of help.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Burga |first=Solcyre |date=February 15, 2023 |title=How Turkey's Earthquake Response Failed Its People |url=https://time.com/6255634/earthquake-turkey-syria-erdogan-rescue/ |access-date=February 17, 2023 |magazine=Time |language=en}}</ref> In May 2021, Twitter labeled one of the tweets by [[Sambit Patra]], a spokesman of the local ruling party [[Bharatiya Janata Party|BJP]] in India, as "manipulated media," leading to Twitter's offices in [[Delhi]] and [[Gurgaon]] being raided by the local police.<ref name=DelhiRaid>{{cite news |title=Police in India visited Twitter offices over 'manipulated media' label |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/24/delhi-police-run-by-indias-central-government-raids-twitter-offices-over-manipulated-label/ |last=Singh |first=Manish |work=TechCrunch |date=May 24, 2021 |access-date=May 27, 2021}}</ref> Twitter issued a statement, calling the police visit "a form of intimidation.".<ref>{{cite news |title=Twitter says concerned with India intimidation, requests 3 more months to comply with new IT rules |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/27/twitter-says-concerned-with-india-intimidation-requests-3-more-months-to-comply-with-new-it-rules/ |last=Singh |first=Manish |work=TechCrunch |date=May 27, 2021 |access-date=May 27, 2021}}</ref> Later, the [[Government of India|Indian government]] released a statement in July 2021 claiming Twitter has lost its liability protection concerning user-generated content. This was brought on by Twitter's failure to comply with the [[Information Technology Rules, 2021|new IT rules]] introduced in 2021, with a filing stating that the company failed to appoint executives to govern user content on the platform.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 6, 2021 |title=Twitter loses immunity over user-generated content in India |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/india/twitter-loses-immunity-over-user-generated-content-india-2021-07-06/ |access-date=July 6, 2021}}</ref> Twitter stated to India's government in August 2021 that they have appointed permanent executives and staff to provide for compliance to these new IT rules.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-06/twitter-says-has-appointed-officials-to-comply-with-india-rules | title = Twitter Says Has Appointed Officials to Comply With India Rules | first = Upmanyu | last = Trivedi | date = August 6, 2021 | access-date= August 6, 2021 | work = [[Bloomberg News]] }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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