Twitter praised for acting quickly on accounts endorsing Nice attack

Watchdog groups applauded Twitter on Friday for quickly taking action against accounts that celebrated the Nice, France terrorist attack on social media.

The Counter Extremism Project and the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Digital Terrorism and Hate Project both praised Twitter for removing posts in the immediate aftermath of Thursday’s attack, Reuters reported.

Dozens of Twitter accounts posted tweets supporting the attack soon after it unfolded, included several that spread images celebrating the assault, the Counter Extremism Project told Reuters.

The almost instantaneous deployment of previously inactive Twitter accounts used to praise the attack is similar to what occurred in the aftermath of recent tragedies in Paris and Brussels, Reuters reported, but this time was met with a response from Twitter faster than ever before.

“Twitter moved with swiftness we have not seen before to erase pro-attack tweets within minutes,” the Counter Extremism Project said in a statement. “It was the first time Twitter has reacted so efficiently.”

Speaking to CNBC, a Twitter representative declined to comment specifically with respect to how the company responded to certain Nice-related tweets, but issued a statement condemning the use of its platform for praising the attack.

“We condemn the use of Twitter to promote terrorism and the Twitter rules make it clear that this behavior, or any violent threat, is not permitted on our service,” said the spokesperson.

“Since the middle of 2015 alone, we’ve suspended more than 125,000 accounts for threatening or promoting terrorist acts,” the spokesperson added, the likes of which were primarily related to the Islamic State terror group.

Authorities say 84 people died after Tunisian-born Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove through a crowd in Nice on Bastille Day. The Islamic State has taken credit for the attack, but investigators are still weighing whether the perpetrator had ties to terrorists from that group or any others.

The Obama administration last week said Islamic State’s presence on Twitter has shrunk by 45 percent during the last two years, and largely credited a U.S.-led campaign aimed at countering the group’s extremist narrative online, The Associated Press reported.