Twitter suspends 125,000 terrorism-related accounts

Twitter said on Friday it has suspended 125,000 accounts primarily related to the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) since the middle of 2015.

The social media network that has more than 500 million users worldwide, said in a tweet that its policy does not permit the use of Twitter to promote terrorism, Xinhua reported.

Twitter, compared with other US-based networks of its kind, has been considered to be more reluctant to intervene against contents posted by users.

In its history of nearly 10 years, it has had a system in place against child pornography.

According to a report released in 2015 by Brookings Institution, a Washington DC-based think tank, the IS had at least 46,000 active Twitter accounts over a three-month period in 2014.

The pressure for Twitter to curb propaganda by the IS and other extremist groups comes from the US government as well as non-government groups and individuals. Last month, it was sued by the widow of a US national killed in an attack on a Jordanian police training centre.

The plaintiff alleged that Twitter makes it easy for the IS to promote violence.

However, Twitter said on Friday it has "always sought to strike a balance between the enforcement of our own Twitter Rules covering prohibited behaviours, the legitimate needs of law enforcement, and the ability of users to share their views freely - including views that some people may disagree with or find offensive."

Meanwhile, the network said it has increased the size of the teams that review terrorism-related reports, so as to reduce its response time.