Twitter to remove idle accounts, archive them

Social media platform Twitter Inc will remove accounts that have been inactive for several years, CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet on Monday.

We’re purging accounts that have had no activity at all for several years, so you will probably see follower count drop

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 8, 2023

Musk added that users on the micro-blogging platform could see a drop in follower count.

According to Twitter's policy, users should log in to their account at least once every 30 days to avoid permanent removal due to prolonged inactivity.

Earlier this month, Musk "threatened" to reassign National Public Radio's Twitter account to another company, after the public broadcaster stopped posting content to its 52 official Twitter feeds in protest against a Twitter label that implied government involvement in its editorial content.

Twitter last month removed the legacy verified blue tick from the profile of thousands of people, including celebrities, journalists and prominent politicians.

Musk has made account verification a part of Twitter's Blue subscription, a move he said would tackle the issue of bot accounts on the social media platform.