Is it true that owners of free Twitter accounts were required to remove Ukrainian flags from their profiles?

On February 26, 2023, reports emerged that in the near future, Twitter users will no longer be able to place the Ukrainian flag emoji next to their profile name. It was stated that such a function would soon be available only to paid users, and the profiles of violators would be deleted. We decided to check if this is true.

The message about the ban on emoji with the Ukrainian flag for free Twitter users became popular on social networks - as in the very Twitter, and in Telegram, where TV presenter Ruslan Ostashko (345,000 subscribers at the time of writing this analysis) spoke about this, in particular. Most often, such posts were accompanied by a screenshot with a warning: on behalf of Twitter, it was reported that the user should remove the Ukrainian flag from his profile, since now only Twitter Blue subscribers (that is, those who have a blue checkmark in their profile) have the right to support Ukraine in this way. The text of the warning states: “The display of this flag is considered a political statement directed against Russia. Since we are a neutral platform, we must avoid any political bias.” At the end of the message there is a requirement to remove emoji from the profile no later than February 28.

The first message about restrictions on Twitter is exactly that recording on Twitter, a screenshot of which was widely circulated on social networks. Tweet appeared on profile Walter Report, dedicated to the war in Ukraine. This account is run by a Ukrainian activist, a doctor living in the USA. Walter (Vladimir) Lech, which also has website, channel on YouTube, account in Instagram And podcast. Since February 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion, he has been publishing news and raising money to help Ukraine.

Fact-checking site Snopes Immediately after the publication of the recording, I contacted Walter Lech for comments, but received no response. Even though the deadline for the published warning has passed, users can still post a Ukrainian flag emoji next to their profile name.

IN Twitter rules there is a list of restrictions for users: a ban on publishing photographs of naked children (as well as adults without their consent), on interference in the electoral process, on the publication of personal data. It is also prohibited to promote suicide and insult people based on race, nationality or religion. There is nothing about political statements there.

There are also no political preferences for users with a blue check mark. IN Twitter Blue Rules details what you can get for $8 per month (or $84 per year): the ability to edit tweets within half an hour after publication, choose the application design from an expanded set of themes, publish longer posts, etc.

Finally, no one other than the author of the Walter Report ever encountered such a warning. In any case, there are no traces of this either in the comments to the post or in other user messages. On the same day, February 26, no threat admitted and the author of the viral tweet: “Twitter is NOT banning the Ukrainian flag... yet. However, the fact that Musk could do this is quite plausible. Musk’s actions and tweets speak louder than fake memes and have real consequences for Ukraine.”

It is not entirely clear from the text of the new Walter Report entry whether the author admits that he deliberately created a fake. He did not say where he got the screenshot from, but from the answer it becomes obvious that this is another round of criticism from Ukrainians against the owner of the social network, Elon Musk, who constantly makes controversial statements about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In particular, in October 2022 Musk suggested a draft peace treaty involving the transfer of Crimea to Russia and Ukraine’s refusal to join NATO. In February 2023, Musk’s company SpaceX, which transferred Starlink terminals to Ukraine at the very beginning of the war, began to limit for the Armed Forces of Ukraine the possibility of satellite communications for military purposes. Finally, Advisor to the Office of the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak directly accused The mask is indulging Russian propaganda due to the fact that Twitter, according to Podolyak, deliberately reduces the popularity of accounts of the Ukrainian authorities.

Thus, no confirmation has yet appeared about the ban on the emoji in the form of the Ukrainian flag for ordinary Twitter users. There have been no changes to Twitter's rules, and there is no widespread evidence from users. The only confirmation is a screenshot on the blog of a Ukrainian activist, who also admitted that Twitter has not yet introduced such restrictions.

Cover photo: social networks

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Snopes. Is Twitter Censoring the Ukrainian Flag Emoji?
2. Is it true that Elon Musk sent obscene words to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Twitter?
3. Is it true that a “No Flags” poster was hung at a Ukrainian refugee camp in Spain?