Trump rips Twitter, accuses platform of removing followers

President Trump accused Twitter on Friday of removing “many” of his followers from its platform, doubling down on his oft-repeated allegation that the social media platform exhibits political bias against conservatives.

“Twitter has removed many people from my account and, more importantly, they have seemingly done something that makes it much harder to join – they have stifled growth to a point where it is obvious to all,” Trump wrote. “A few weeks ago it was a rocket ship, now it is a blimp! Total bias?”

Trump has accused tech leaders, including Twitter, Facebook and Google, of suppressing conservative viewpoints while promoting progressive voices. The president warned last August that the three companies are “treading on very, very troubled territory.”

Twitter has repeatedly denied that it exhibits political bias on any kind on its platform. The company defended its policies in a statement Friday.

Twitter has cracked down on fake and abusive accounts in recent months amid concerns about foreign meddling and the propagation of “fake news” on its platform. Earlier this week, the company reported a decline of 4 million users on its platform, noting that it currently has a base of 326 million active users.

Despite the user decline, Twitter shares rose after the company topped Wall Street’s expectations for quarterly revenue and earnings.

"We're doing a better job detecting and removing spammy and suspicious accounts at sign-up," Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in a press release.

Despite his criticism of Twitter, Trump is an avid user of the platform. He has tweeted more than 39,000 times from his personal account.