Watch CBS News

Twitter Removing Suspicious Accounts From Your Follower Count

Follow CBSPHILLY Facebook | Twitter

PHILADELPHIA (CBS/CNN) — If you are losing Twitter followers as of late, it may have nothing to do with you, according to the social media company.

This Is Care-E, The Robot Airport Assistant Coming This Year

In a bit of overdue housekeeping, the platform said tens of millions of accounts previously locked due to suspicious activity will be purged from its follower counts, a closely watched metric on the platform.

CHINA-INTERNET-US-TWITTER
This photo illustration taken on March 23, 2018 shows Twitter logos on a computer screen in Beijing. / AFP PHOTO / NICOLAS ASFOURI (Photo credit should read NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

The company says "most" people will lose "four followers or fewer," but more prominent Twitter accounts "will experience a more significant drop."

"We understand this may be hard for some, but we believe accuracy and transparency make Twitter a more trusted service for public conversation," Vijaya Gadde, Twitter's head of legal, policy and trust, wrote in a blog post Wednesday.

The move, which Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced in a tweet, is part of a broader effort to safeguard the platform amid mounting scrutiny over the proliferation of trolls, fake news, and disinformation on Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms.

Twitter stock tanked earlier this week amid investor jitters over a report that the company had suspended more than 70 million accounts in its ongoing battle against misinformation and other abuse. The company later clarified that most of the suspended accounts were inactive and therefore would not impact its closely watched monthly active user metric.

The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.