Twitter Has Suspended 125,000 ISIS-Related Accounts

In this modern day and age, warfare does not only involve troops on the ground, but off it as well. Other than the conventional battlefield that we see out there, there is the virtual battlefield – and this is where ideas go up against one another for supremacy. Twitter made an announcement earlier this afternoon, citing that they have done their bit in the war on terror by suspended 125,000 Twitter accounts at the bare minimum since the middle of last year, and all of these happen to be related to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

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Since mid-2015, we have suspended over 125,000 accounts for threatening or promoting terrorist acts. Read more here: https://t.co/FQJeOTtPLz

— Policy (@policy) February 5, 2016

The reason or cause for suspension? Apparently, Twitter has deemed them to be threatening or promoting terrorist acts which are related to ISIS. In a blog post, Twitter mentioned, “Like most people around the world, we are horrified by the atrocities perpetrated by extremist groups. We condemn the use of Twitter to promote terrorism and the Twitter Rules make it clear that this type of behavior, or any violent threat, is not permitted on our service.”

Interestingly enough, this is the very first time where Twitter made known of such suspensions to the masses, and it might be due to political pressure from at home as well as abroad. Hopefully this little bit will go a long way in preventing or at least, slowing down the spread of such violent ideologies. Looks like ISIS symphatizers won’t be able to test out GIF buttons on their mobile apps with suspended accounts anytime soon.

Edwin Kee
Categories: General
Tags: social media, Twitter