Twitter shuts down more than 1,000 accounts it says unfairly targeted Moreno

Twitter has shut down 1,019 accounts in Ecuador, saying they’re mostly fake and aimed at undermining President Lenín Moreno.

President Lenin Moreno

Twitter on Friday said the accounts tied to supporters of former president Rafael Correa attacked Moreno’s administration, focusing on free speech, government censorship and technology issues.

The move by Twitter is part of a worldwide initiative to foster public understanding of how the social media platform can be manipulated.

Ecuador’s Moreno rose to power two years ago as a successor to then-President Rafael Correa, but they soon had a political falling out, which also divided their party, Alianza Pais.

The branch remaining loyal to Correa, who lives in Belgium and is under an arrest order in Ecucador, has become an ongoing source of criticism toward Moreno.

Network administrators say they also removed accounts in Saudi Arabia, Spain, China, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.