In the past two months, Twitter has suspended more than 70 million accounts suspected of spreading false information as part of its fight against malicious activity.
According to the Washington Post, which quotes data confirmed by Twitter, the average suspension rate is more than one million per day and peaked in mid-May, when more than 13 million suspicious accounts were suspended in a single week. The trend remains the same in July, according to the newspaper.
Leading social networks, Facebook and Twitter in the lead, have put in place stricter rules for political ads, after sharp criticism of their “laxity” in the face of the proliferation of false information during the 2016 US election campaign. In many cases, messages were posted by “bots” (automatic accounts) or Russian-based accounts.
In May, Twitter announced the coming into force of new rules for political advertisers, who will have to provide authenticated documents proving they are in the United States. While parliamentary elections will be held in November, candidates will have to be clearly identified as such on their behalf.
In February, US justice charged 13 Russian nationals accused of participating in “an information war against the United States” on social networks, exacerbating racial and political tensions during the election campaign to favor the candidate Republican Donald Trump and denigrate his Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton. Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller has been investigating for more than a year whether Trump’s campaign team has voluntarily partnered with Russian officials to favor the election of the billionaire, which Mr. Trump denies.
“Twitter is getting rid of fake accounts at a record speed,” the US president wrote Saturday on the social network he uses daily, wondering if those of the New York Times and the Washington Post, two newspapers he vilifies regularly for their coverage of his politics, were part of the lot.
Brian Shannon is just getting his start a reporter. He attended a technical school while still in high school where he learned a variety of skills, from photography to car mechanics. Brian also helps keep Techno Secrets social media feeds up-to-date.
