Twitter CEO Elon Musk to purge ‘inactive accounts’ that have ‘had no activity for several years’

Twitter is set to wipe out inactive accounts in a bid to “free up abandoned handles", CEO Elon Musk has said. 

Musk warned website users that they will “probably see follower count drop" as the company sets out to purge accounts that have "had no activity at all" for several years.

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

Responding to a complaint, the billionaire owner said inactive accounts will be archived but did specify details on when the process will begin. 

It is not known if or how Twitter users will be able to access archived accounts. 

It comes after Twitter removed blue ticks from thousands of verified accounts. Users will now have to pay for the blue tick, as part of the ‘Twitter Blue’ offering that Elon Musk hopes will solve the social media company’s financial woes.

Under Musk's newly-found ownership, users now have to pay $8 (£6.34) per month to keep their blue ticks.