Twitter Stops Ads from Chinese State Media After Backlash

Shortly after receiving criticism for allowing Chinese-government run state media to advertise on its platform, Twitter has banned all state-controlled media outlets from advertising.

TechCrunch reports that Twitter has chosen to block all state-run media outlets from advertising on the site following criticism for allowing China Xinhua News, a state-run media outlet, to smear Hong Kong protesters via promoted tweets. From Breitbart News’ recent article this week:

Twitter – Criticism – Tweet – Advertising – China

Twitter is currently facing criticism for allowing promoted tweet advertising by China’s largest state news agency. The promoted tweets aim to smear pro-democracy demonstrations by protesters in Hong Kong as violent even though recently rallies which have drawn as many as 1.7 million people have been reported as largely peaceful by international media.

Promoted tweet ads from China Xinhua News, an agency run by the Chinese Communist Party, were shared by the Twitter account Pinboard, a bookmarking service founded by Maciej Ceglowski. Twitter is blacklisted by the Chinese communist government, completely blocked by the “Great Chinese Firewall.”

Protests – Hong – Kong – March – Opposition

Protests in Hong Kong began in March in opposition to a now-suspended extradition bill but have since expanded to include a number of other demands. These include the release of imprisoned protesters, investigations into the actions of police officers, the full resignation of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam…