The accounts of several Russian, Chinese and Iranian state media outlets saw a 70 percent increase in engagement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after it removed labels identifying them as “state-affiliated,” according to a new report released Tuesday.

The recent analysis from NewsGuard, which analyzes media trends and disinformation, found that 12 state media accounts from the three countries saw the number of likes and reposts on their content jump from 2.93 million in the 90 days before X removed the “state-affiliated” labels to 4.98 million in the 90-day period afterward.

Russia’s RT, which was already receiving substantially more engagement than the other state media outlets before the label’s removal, saw interactions with its posts nearly double in the three months after the change, jumping from 1.3 million to 2.5 million.

  • @WhatAmLemmy
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    321 year ago

    This is the intended result of jerking around, then removing, the “state-affiliated” label.

    Everything space karen has done in the last decade has been to empower authoritarians and the oligarchy.

    • @febra
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      21 year ago

      He’s an oligarch after all.

  • Flying SquidM
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    181 year ago

    Meanwhile, are Indian opposition tweets criticizing Modi allowed yet?

    • @febra
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      61 year ago

      That’s not free speech absolutist enough for the muskrat

    • @Moneo
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      31 year ago

      Same reason people still use Reddit. Change is hard and people are apathetic and/or ignorant.