Trump, without evidence, says Twitter removed followers because of 'total bias'
Twitter says it's focused on removing fake accounts to prevent malicious behavior.
- Carrie has lived on both coasts and can definitively say that Chesapeake Bay blue crabs are the best.
President Donald Trump slammed Twitter in a tweet early Friday.
President Donald Trump is again lashing out at Twitter … on Twitter.
On Friday morning, Trump tweeted that the social network had removed many followers from his account, suggesting that it could be because of political bias.
Twitter has removed many people from my account and, more importantly, they have seemingly done something that makes it much harder to join - they have stifled growth to a point where it is obvious to all. A few weeks ago it was a Rocket Ship, now it is a Blimp! Total Bias?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 26, 2018
"Twitter has removed many people from my account and, more importantly, they have seemingly done something that makes it much harder to join - they have stifled growth to a point where it is obvious to all," reads the tweet. "A few weeks ago it was a Rocket Ship, now it is a Blimp! Total Bias?"
Twitter's been trying to clean up its service for several months by cracking down on fake accounts, bots and spam. In July, Twitter started purging locked accounts, which caused follower numbers to drop for many prominent people on the social network.
Trump's follower count dropped by about 300,000 in July down to 53.1 million. As of Friday, Trump had 55.3 million followers, according to his account page.
Twitter reiterated on Friday that its focus is on removing bots and fake accounts.
"Our focus is on the health of the service, and that includes work to remove fake accounts to prevent malicious behavior," said a Twitter spokesperson in an emailed statement. "Many prominent accounts have seen follower counts drop, but the result is higher confidence that the followers they have are real, engaged people."
Trump has previously accused Twitter of discriminating against conservatives and "shadow banning" prominent Republicans. The president hasn't offered evidence to support these claims but has called for the social network to be investigated.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in September to defend the social network from allegations of bias, as well as explain what the company is doing to protect its users and curb misinformation.
The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
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