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Twitter claims it has deactivated 3,465 accounts associated to six countries: China, Mexico, Russia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Venezuela.
The majority of the deleted profiles – 2,048 – “amplified Chinese Communist Party narratives” about the plight of Uighurs in Xinjiang province, according to a statement released by the social media giant on Thursday. Another 112 accounts were banned because they were linked to “Changyu Culture,” a private company funded by the Xinjiang government.
China has long been accused of human rights violations against the predominantly Muslim ethnic group, with activists and UN rights experts claiming that at least one million Uighurs are held in camps in China’s far western province. China is accused by activists and some Western politicians of utilising torture, forced labour, and sterilisation.
China denies any violations of human rights in Xinjiang, claiming that the camps are necessary to “combat extremism” and provide vocational training.
In Uganda, Twitter suspended 418 accounts for “organised inauthentic behaviour” in favour of President Yoweri Museveni and his National Resistance Movement party.
In Tanzania, around 270 accounts were shut down when it was discovered that they were using Twitter to file false reports against members and supporters of FichuaTanzania, a human rights organisation.
Twitter also deactivated 16 accounts related to the Internet Research Agency, a Russian firm that undertakes pro-government internet influence efforts and has been dubbed a “troll farm” by critics.
“To push a pro-Russia stance into Central African political conversation, the operation used a combination of inauthentic and legitimate accounts,” Twitter stated.
Since sending a big group of “instructors” to train the army in 2018, Russia has increased its influence in the Central African Republic.
Twitter noted, “We also banned a network of 50 accounts that criticised the civilian Libyan government and players who support it, while voicing strong support for Russia’s geopolitical position in Libya and Syria.”
276 accounts in Mexico shared pro-government content, and 277 accounts in Venezuela “amplified accounts, hashtags, and subjects in support of the government and its official narratives,” according to the list.
Twitter’s decision came a day after Facebook’s parent firm Meta claimed it had deactivated more than 500 accounts tied to a COVID-19-related Chinese influence campaign. The accounts pushed accusations made by a bogus Swiss biologist named Wilson Edwards that the US was interfering with efforts to discover the coronaviru origin.
China has banned both Twitter and Facebook, yet Beijing routinely utilises both US social media platforms to push its ideas on the international stage.