New Delhi, April 5: X users on Friday started losing followers as Elon Musk-run social media platform kicked off the exercise to remove bots.

The action came as spam and porn bots swarmed the platform in the past few months, leaving users flummoxed. "I lost 48 followers after Elon's bot and troll purge - that was less than 0.002 per cent," posted an X user. "I lost like 6 followers today. Are bot accounts actually being purged?" another wrote. Musk had announced that a system purge of bots and trolls was underway. Elon Musk Says 'System Purge of Bots & Trolls Underway' on X, Warns of Strict Action.

"Please reply to me or @XEng if legitimate accounts are suspended," said the billionaire. "X Corp will be tracing the people responsible and bringing the full force of the law to bear upon them," he added. A user commented: "To the hundreds of bots leaving me today, I will not miss you."

X safety account also posted that they have kicked off a "significant, proactive initiative to eliminate accounts that violate our Rules against platform manipulation and spam". "As a result, you may observe changes in follower counts". X Latest Update: Elon Musk’s X Rolls Out No-Cost Premium Upgrades and Ad Revenue Sharing for Users Surpassing Verified Follower Counts Over 2500 and 5000; Check Details.

X has not shared about how many bots are currently there on the platform. In 2022, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO had said that “we will defeat the spam bots or die trying”.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 05, 2024 11:25 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).