Why are Twitter ‘China state media’ labels only applied to Chinese employees?
- Beijing-sponsored outlets employ a number of non-Chinese workers in prominent posts, yet none are labelled by Twitter
- Concerns of fairness and safety come amid rising incidents of violence and harassment in the US against Asians and Asian-Americans
Last August, Twitter, the social media giant, announced a new policy: “state-affiliated media” labels would be attached to the accounts of government-controlled news outlets and some of their senior employees in China, as well as in Russia and a handful of other countries.
In the months since, Twitter has expanded the policy’s reach, increasing the number of countries affected and adding more individual accounts to the list, including those of reporters.
But one group of users seems to have been spared: non-Chinese news workers employed by Chinese state media outlets, the ranks of which include senior editors, news anchors, foreign correspondents and commentators.
At best, observers say, it’s an imbalance that reflects the challenges social media companies face in gathering enough information to apply such labels consistently.
At worst, it risks fuelling racist tropes that paint Chinese journalists – and only Chinese journalists – as spokespeople for Beijing. Such concerns come amid spiking violence and harassment in the US of Asians and Asian-Americans, both online and off.
Twitter, which denies that nationality plays a role in its determinations, declined to provide a list of all accounts flagged as “China state-affiliated media”. The South China Morning Post identified at least 11 personal accounts carrying the label – in addition to dozens of organisational accounts.
Twitter said it selects individuals based on their seniority or prominence. But beside the editors-in-chief, bureau chiefs and TV anchors, the labels have also been applied to several reporters.