Removing fake accounts won’t hurt user metrics: Twitter

Twitter suspended more than 70 million accounts in May and June, and the pace has continued in July.

Twitter reported 336 million monthly active users at the end of the first quarter of this year. (REUTERS)

While confirming a report that Twitter has been suspending as much as one million questionable accounts per day in recent months, the microblogging site refuted the claim that the move will lead to decline in the numbers of monthly active users.

Twitter suspended more than 70 million accounts in May and June, and the pace has continued in July, The Washington Post had reported.

"Some clarifications: most accounts we remove are not included in our reported metrics as they have not been active on the platform for 30 days or more, or we catch them at sign up and they are never counted," Twitter CFO Ned Segal said in a tweet on Monday while responding to the report in The Washington Post.

Twitter reported 336 million monthly active users at the end of the first quarter of this year.

"If we removed 70 million accounts from our reported metrics, you would hear directly from us. This article reflects us getting better at improving the health of the service. Look forward to talking more on our earnings call July 27!" Segal said in another tweet.

But the confirmation of removal of fake accounts, even if not from the reported metrics, Twitter's shares fell nearly 9 per cent in midday trading Monday, erasing $3.1 billion in market value, Fortune.com reported.

According to the report in The Washington Post on July 6, the rate of account suspensions at Twitter has more than doubled since October when the micro-blogging platform revealed to US Congress how the Russians used fake accounts to manipulate the 2016 presidential election.

Removing accounts could lead to a drop in the number of monthly active users (MAUs) in the second quarter, claimed the report.