Twitter has shut down over 125 000 terrorist accounts – Aftonbladet

Islamist terror organizations like IS and al-Qaeda have become increasingly adept at using social media to scare people and to reach out with their propaganda.

Both Twitter and Facebook in recent years has closed down thousands of accounts – and Twitter now state that they are only in the latter half of 2015 extinguished the 125,000 accounts with terrorist connections.

Terrorists and terrorist organizations are constantly developing their ability to use social media to be intimidated, spread propaganda and recruit new followers. No extremist organization has been so successful that IS something Aftonbladet shown in a previous review.

According to the European Police Office Europol estimates were last summer, some 50 000 accounts on Twitter that could be linked to the IS. Of these were assessed between 1000 and 2000 to be driven by people who are central in the organization. In June created Europol therefore a special unit charged with identifying and stopping terrorist network in social media.

Social networks are fighting terror

While social media giants have made great vigorous efforts to combat terrorist networks using their channels.

Twitter has previously shut down accounts with links to both the iS, al Qaeda and its Syrian branch al-Nusra. Last spring, the company stated that they closed the 2000 accounts per week that should have been linked to the IS. Aftonbladet has reported on how the company in a single day, April 2 last year, should have closed down 10,000 accounts in a matter of hours.

“They closed because they tweeted violent threats”, said Twitter’s security department then.

Also, Facebook shut down accounts linked to the IS, if the contents of users’ accounts deemed to violate statutes and calls to violence and threats.

125 000 nerstängda accounts in six months

on Friday, Twitter announced via their blog that they closed down 125 000 accounts, only in the latter half of 2015 . This is because they have been threatened or encouraged terrorist attacks, primarily related to the terror group iS.

“like most people around the world, we are horrified by the atrocities committed by extremist groups. We condemn the use of Twitter to promote terrorism and Twitter’s rules make clear that this type of behavior, or any violent threat, not allowed on our service, “writes the company, which at the same time present their strategies to combat terrorist networks, social media presence.