Mr. Bloomberg has used his personal wealth to fund large ad-buying sprees on TV, radio and sites such as Facebook.
Photo: George Frey/Getty ImagesTwitter Inc. has removed some accounts supportive of Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg for possible content manipulation, in a potential setback for his expansive social-media strategy.
The Wall Street Journal this past week reported that Mr. Bloomberg’s campaign was hiring hundreds of workers in California to spread messages supporting his candidacy on their personal social-media accounts and by sending text messages to their friends. Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire, has used his personal wealth to fund large ad-buying sprees on TV, radio and sites such as Facebook.
A Twitter spokeswoman Saturday said it suspended the accounts for violating its rules against platform manipulation and spam, such as efforts to artificially boost messages on the company’s platform.
Twitter’s rules prohibit “coordinating with or compensating others to engage in artificial engagement or amplification, even if the people involved use only one account.”
A spokeswoman for Mr. Bloomberg’s campaign said “we ask that all of our deputy field organizers identify themselves as working on behalf of the Mike Bloomberg 2020 campaign on their social-media accounts.” The campaign, she said, was using an app that used Twitter-approved features so staff and volunteers can share messages. The activity, she said, “was not intended to mislead anyone.”
U.S. presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle are betting that large social-media drives—some relying on grass-roots support, and others on campaign financing—will help win voters. But the efforts also take place at a time when election-related activities on social-media platforms are under scrutiny after a Senate committee report in October criticized U.S. tech companies for helping spread disinformation during the 2016 election.
Facebook Inc. said “we think it’s important that political campaigns have the guidance and tools to be transparent.” The social-media giant said it would “welcome clearer guidance” from regulators.
Twitter removed about 70 accounts backing Mr. Bloomberg. The move was previously reported by the Los Angeles Times, which found some accounts were posting nearly identical messages in what appeared to be a coordinated manner.
Twitter said it would unlock some of the accounts if users verify they are the actual owners by supplying information such as a phone number or email address. That information helps the social-media site identify violators that operate multiple accounts.
Social-media companies have at times split on how they handle election-related content. Twitter last year said it would ban political ads. Facebook said it would continue to take political ads and exempt them from fact checking.
—Tarini Parti and Jeff Horwitz contributed to this article.
Write to Betsy Morris at betsy.morris@wsj.com
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Twitter Suspends Some Accounts Backing Michael Bloomberg - The Wall Street Journal
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