Musk confirms Twitter to purge inactive accounts, warns users of follower drops

Social media platform Twitter will soon eliminate inactive accounts on the platform, CEO Elon Musk confirmed Monday.

"We’re purging accounts that have had no activity at all for several years, so you will probably see follower count drop," Musk informed users in a post.

He did not specify any set period of inactivity or threshold that would qualify for deletion. Since his takeover of the company, Musk has sought to eliminate bot accounts, which are automated users managing fake profiles on the platform.

Former President Donald Trump has not tweeted from his @realDonaldTrump account since Jan. 8, 2021. It remains unclear whether his handle will fall victim to Musk's imminent purge, given the absence of a stated timetable for inactivity.

Musk has sought to overhaul the platform in terms of both functionality and policy since his purchase of the company. He has recently unveiled a paid verification service known as Twitter Blue which grants access to exclusive features and prioritizes the comments of subscribers in user feeds.

His changes have also included the application of "government-funded media" labels to outlets such as NPR and PBS, which has prompted outrage from their recipients. Both have confirmed they will no longer post their content on the site.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.