New Delhi, Delhi, India

Twitter accounts of Bollywood stars as well as politicians are now hit after the social media network plunged into a full-fledged attack on fake accounts. In a major clean-up drive, millions of fake accounts were deleted in an effort by Twitter to combat social media fraud and “build trust in the website.” 

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Starting on Thursday, Twitter has been locking fictitious accounts for bulk tweeting, posting a large number of unsolicited replies, or sharing links with misleading information.

Twitter’s move is aimed at users who harp on their social media influence by bulking up on inflated follower base that is either automated or fake. These accounts have for years now used these inflated numbers to showcase their influence to “bolster their political activism, business endeavours or entertainment careers.”

In a statement, Twitter wrote: “This is another step to improve Twitter, and ensure everyone can have confidence in their followers.”

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According to Social Blade, a software that helps track social media stats, since Thursday US President Trump lost about 330,000 followers while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi lost about 284,000. 

Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan’s followers dipped by 360,000 and legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar lost about 250,000 followers.