WASHINGTON: Twitter said on Tuesday it suspended 376,890 accounts in the second half of 2016 for “promotion of terrorism,” an increase of 60 per cent over the prior six-month period.
The latest suspensions bring the total number of blocked accounts to 636,248 from August 2015, when Twitter stepped up efforts to curb “violent extremism,” the company announced as part of its latest transparency report.
The actions come with social networks under pressure from governments around the world to use technology tools to lock out militants and others who use the platforms to recruit and launch attacks.
Twitter said separately the number of government requests for user data rose seven percent from the prior six-month period, but affected 13 per cent fewer accounts.
For requests to remove content — from governments and others including copyright holders — the number of requests was up 13 per cent but the number of accounts fell 37 per cent. - AFP
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