Twitter has suspended more than 10,000 accounts linked to the Islamic State, it is believed.
Although Twitter’s data is not currently made public, a representative for the site who wished to remain anonymous, independently confirmed that the accounts were suspended on April 2, for ‘tweeting violent threats’.
If the claims are true, it would be the largest purge of IS accounts to date, with some experts believing that more than 90,000 currently exist.
The new suspensions come amid criticism that Twitter’s failure to shut the accounts has allowed the Islamic State to glorify violence, spread propaganda, and seek recruits.
But the Twitter representative attributed the dramatic rise in suspensions to an effort to expose the accounts by groups such as Anonymous.
However, some anti-Islamic State activists said that the suspensions would make it harder to monitor the group online.
Posting on Twitter, activist xrsone said: ‘The only change I have seen is previously suspended accounts now being deleted.
‘This has zero effect on the number of active accounts and accomplishes nothing.
‘In fact the number of active accounts has grown’.
Another said that many IS sympathisers will simply create a new account within 24 hours, adding a number or letter to their previous handle.
