Twitter deleting 1.5 bn inactive accounts, account names up for grabs: Musk

New Twitter owner Elon Musk on Friday said the company will delete and free names of 1.5 billion accounts that have been inactive for years on the platform.

"Twitter will soon start freeing the name space of 1.5 billion accounts. These are obvious account deletions with no tweets and no login for years," said the billionaire.

Musk also said that the micro-blogging platform is working on a process to inform the users whether their tweets have been suppressed under a process known as "shadow banning" and they can appeal against the ban.

He added that Twitter is also working on a software update that will show your true account status.

"So you know clearly if you've been shadowbanned, the reason why and how to appeal," he mentioned.

Twitter has been accused of suppressing certain political speech on the platform.

The "Twitter Files 2" revealed that the micro-blogging platform, under a secret group, made controversial decisions, including "shadow banning" high-profile users without informing then CEO Jack Dorsey.

"This secret group included the Head of Legal, Policy, and Trust (Vijaya Gadde), the Global Head of Trust & Safety (Yoel Roth), subsequent CEOs Jack Dorsey and Parag Agrawal, and others," said Bari Weiss, Founder and Editor of The Free Press, in the new "Twitter Files."

Twitter had earlier denied that it did such things.

--IANS

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