"With Certification Mark..." Twitter Faces Fake Information Controversy in Ukraine War

BBC "Some Twitter Blue Accounts Spread Misinformation"

Social networking service (SNS) Twitter has been embroiled in controversy over fake information related to the Ukraine war.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

British broadcaster BBC reported on the 9th (local time) that some accounts with the verified service "Twitter Blue," which is given to accounts confirmed to be authentic, have been spreading fake information related to the Ukraine war.

According to the report, one account with Twitter Blue shared an article on the 1st claiming that "French police were attacked with American rifles presumed to have come from Ukraine." The article referred to protests triggered by the death of a 17-year-old Algerian boy who was shot by police in Paris at the end of last month, alleging that the police were attacked with rifles during the protests. The article claimed that the rifles were weapons previously supplied by the United States to Ukraine, which is at war with Russia, and that they later made their way from Ukraine to France. This post attracted significant attention, recording over one million views. However, BBC reported that tracking revealed the source of this post was a pro-Kremlin Telegram channel.

The photo of the rifle accompanying the article was explained to be material posted on a military blog covering a shooting competition held near Moscow, the capital of Russia, in 2012. Such articles cannot be found in other media outlets, and BBC pointed out that there is no evidence that weapons provided by the United States to Ukraine were used in protests within France.

Another Twitter Blue account posted on the 28th of last month a post claiming that a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) military barracks and foreign mercenaries' quarters in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, were destroyed due to a missile misfire by Ukraine. At a restaurant in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Province, Ukraine, at least eight people were killed in a Russian missile attack on the 27th of last month.

This post, which was uploaded immediately after the attack, claimed that "a Storm Shadow missile suddenly changed its trajectory abruptly, striking Kramatorsk and destroying the Ukrainian military barracks housing foreign soldiers and mercenaries." However, BBC explained that there is no evidence that the damage in Kramatorsk was caused by a Ukrainian missile, nor is there any evidence that military barracks in the area were damaged at that time.

Twitter acknowledged that there have been "related inquiries" regarding such cases of spreading fake information by accounts with Twitter Blue, but BBC added that Twitter has not issued any further comments.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.