(Reuters)

Social media platform Twitter Inc will remove accounts that have been inactive for several years, CEO Elon Musk announced in a tweet on Monday (May 8), saying that the action is “important to free up abandoned handles.”

Twitter’s billionaire owner in a separate tweet said inactive accounts will be archived, Musk did not add any details on when the process will begin.

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

Musk also said users on the micro-blogging platform could see a drop in follower count, as several inactive accounts might get removed.

According to Twitter’s policy, users should log in to their account at least once every 30 days to avoid permanent removal due to prolonged inactivity.

Earlier this month, Musk “threatened” to reassign National Public Radio’s (NPR) Twitter account to another company, after the public broadcaster stopped posting content to its 52 official Twitter feeds in protest against a Twitter label that implied government involvement in its editorial content.

Twitter last month removed the legacy verified blue tick from the profile of thousands of people, including celebrities, journalists and prominent politicians.

Musk has made account verification a part of Twitter’s Blue subscription, a move he said would tackle the issue of bot accounts on the social media platform.