The Washington Post on Friday published a report detailing Twitter’s increased rates of suspending “fake and suspicious accounts.” The next day, President Donald Trump cited the Post’s article—while simultaneously decrying the newspaper as fake news that ought to be banned from Twitter.
In its report, the Post parsed out exclusive data it obtained showing that Twitter is suspending accounts at a rate of more than 1 million per day to try and decrease the amount of misinformation floating around.
In a tweet Saturday morning, Trump referenced the “record pace” of Twitter bans. Then he blasted the publication the information came from.
“Twitter is getting rid of fake accounts at a record pace,” Trump tweeted. “Will that include the Failing New York Times and propaganda machine for Amazon, the Washington Post, who constantly quote anonymous sources that, in my opinion, don’t exist – they will both be out of business in 7 years!”
Twitter is getting rid of fake accounts at a record pace. Will that include the Failing New York Times and propaganda machine for Amazon, the Washington Post, who constantly quote anonymous sources that, in my opinion, don’t exist – They will both be out of business in 7 years!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 7, 2018
According to the Post, Twitter’s spike in suspensions—which risk’s the platform’s growth—is in part an effort to purge bot accounts like those used by Russia in the 2016 presidential election. The social media network also says it’s trying to curb abusive behavior.
Read the full report here.