CNN: Twitter Is Trying to Crack Down on Spam Bots

Fake news isn’t the only type of misinformation that’s being spread on Twitter. After a New York Times investigation in late January, it became clear that the social media platform is facing a different kind of problem: fake accounts. Now, according to CNN, Twitter is actively taking steps to crack down on those spam bots.

In a blog post published on Wednesday, Twitter announced that it made changes to its site and TweekDeck that will limit coordinated posts across multiple accounts. These changes mean that users will no longer be able to post the same content on a group of accounts, and they’re designed to prevent users from creating and controlling multiple accounts.

In addition to these new changes, Twitter says that it’s being proactive when it comes to spam-like behavior. In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for the site said, “We focus on suspicious account behaviors that indicate inorganic, automated activity or abusive behavior. We also take proactive action on accounts that we believe to be violation of the Twitter Rules, including requesting additional details like asking account owners to confirm a phone number.”

While steps are being taken to eliminate spam and fake accounts from Twitter, this is still an issue that franchise brands—and their digital marketing teams—need to be aware of. As social media engagement and influencer relationships continue to play a big role in marketing strategies, brands need to be aware of these fake accounts and make sure that the engagement that they’re seeing is authentic.