Twitter steps up control on fake accounts

In an amendment to its Community Rules, Twitter changed its section regarding account authenticity. The platform previously addressed only “impersonation” while it now targets all “false and misleading” identities, prohibiting “using false identities in a way that disrupts the experience of other users.” In its rules on platform manipulation, Twitter switched from constraining “account and identity” to preventing “multiple accounts and coordination”, replacing the mention of “fake accounts” with a ban on “creating a very large number of accounts” and “using automation to create accounts.” Surprisingly, the platform however removed from its anti-spam tools the possibility to ask for an official ID.

Another point of attention: Twitter stopped explicitly upholding the lack of infringement in cases where Twitter is used “under a pseudonym or with a parody, comment or fan account."

In the midst of the French presidential campaign, these changes could have an effect on activists’ accounts, especially those using astroturfing techniques: in these cases, a few people campaigning for a candidate use quantities of fake accounts to artificially inflate the importance of a topic. This was seen on the side of La République en Marche during the mandate of Emmanuel Macron. Much more recently, it has been spotted on the side of Eric Zemmour’s supporters. Another venue for analysis: cyber-harassment. Actors like Pen America or Stop Fisha, fighting against the phenomenon, regularly call for better control of fake accounts and multiple accounts, to prevent one person from attacking another pretending to be an army.