X

Twitter suspends over 1.2 million accounts for terrorist content

The company says that total includes accounts suspended since August 2015.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
Expertise Mobile, 5G, Big Tech, Social Media Credentials
  • SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.
Roger Cheng
Currency and Social Media

Twitter has stamped out more than 1.2 million accounts because of terrorism content. 

Getty

Facebook isn't the only one cracking down on the toxic side of its platform. Twitter is getting into the mix too.  

Twitter on Thursday disclosed that it has suspended more than 1.2 million accounts because of terrorism content since August 2015. It shut down nearly 275,000 accounts in the second half of 2017. 

The company's biannual transparency report comes amid increasing scrutiny on social networks for the ability they give trolls and foreign government agencies to spread hate, misinformation and propaganda. Twitter has vowed to do better, and has sought the public's input on how to fix the toxic environment. 

Watch this: Twitter wants more verified users: What does it mean?

Twitter did note that the volume of suspensions is down 8.4 percent from the previous reporting period and that it was the second consecutive decline. 

"We continue to see the positive, significant impact of years of hard work making our site an undesirable place for those seeking to promote terrorism, resulting in this type of activity increasingly shifting away from Twitter," the company said. 

Twitter said that 93 percent of the suspended accounts from the back half of 2017 were flagged by internal, proprietary tools, and nearly three-quarters were suspended before their first tweet.

iHate: CNET looks at how intolerance is taking over the internet.

Security:  Stay up-to-date on the latest in breaches, hacks, fixes and all those cybersecurity issues that keep you up at night.