About government and media account labels on X

Labels on government accounts provide additional context for accounts heavily engaged in geopolitics and diplomacy.

Labels on state-affiliated accounts provide additional context about accounts that are controlled by certain official representatives of governments, state-affiliated media entities and individuals associated with those entities. 

The label appears on the profile page of the relevant X account and on the posts sent by and shared from these accounts. Labels contain information about the country the account is affiliated with and whether it is operated by a government representative or state-affiliated media entity. 

Additionally, these labels include a small icon of a flag to signal the account’s status as a government account and of a podium for state-affiliated media.

How government accounts are defined

Our focus is on senior officials and entities that are the official voice of the nation state abroad, specifically accounts of key government officials, including foreign ministers, institutional entities, official spokespeople, and key diplomatic leaders. Where accounts do not play a role as a geopolitical or official Government communication channel, we will not label the account. 

Additionally, labels will distinguish between individual government accounts and institutional government accounts.

How state-affiliated media accounts are defined

State-affiliated media is defined as outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution. Accounts belonging to state-affiliated media entities, their editors-in-chief, and/or their prominent staff may be labeled. We will also add labels to posts that share links to state-affiliated media websites.

How government-funded media accounts are defined

Government-funded media is defined as outlets where the government provides some or all of the outlet’s funding and may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content. We may use external sources similar to this one in order to determine when this label is applied.

How publicly-funded media accounts are defined

Publicly-funded media refers to media organizations that receive funding from license fees, individual contributions, public financing, and commercial financing.