Meta’s recently launched Twitter rival Threads is reportedly failing to flag propaganda and disinformation being posted by accounts from the likes of Chinese and Russian-backed state media.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Meta launched Threads before the service was "fully built out" to capitalise on the struggles facing Twitter – which has recently been rebranded to ‘X’ – under Elon Musk’s ownership.

The WSJ said the “rushed build” of Threads means the platform lacks basic moderation features including the labels Meta began applying to accounts on its other platforms Facebook and Instagram, denoting whether an account was being run by state media, back in 2020.

Since its launch, based on a running tally, the newspaper claims that accounts such as Russia’s RT and Sputnik News, China’s CGTN and Xinhua News, and Fars News -- run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard -- have attracted more than 270,000 followers.

One such propagandist post from the Sputnik News account -- a Russian outlet that analysts describe as publishing propaganda – showed a manipulated video purporting to show US president Joe Biden perusing books next to a sign saying “Brain exercises for dementia”, said WSJ.

It added that a spokesperson for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether fact checking is due to be rolled out across the platform.

Since its launch, Threads has passed 100 million users, while X has threatened to sue Meta over claims its new platform is engaged in “systematic, wilful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property”.

Musk went on to issue an ‘X’ – formerly known as a tweet – stating that “competition is fine, cheating is not.”

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