Twitter has permanently suspended a "small number" of fake accounts after they were mistakenly verified.
The social media platform has responded after data scientist Conspirador Norteño found six verified accounts which had all been created on June 16, while none of them had posted a tweet.
Twitter has admitted to the mishap, which comes weeks after the site relaunched its public verification programme.
In a statement to the Daily Dot, the company said: "We mistakenly approved the verification applications of a small number of inauthentic (fake) accounts.
“We have now permanently suspended the accounts in question, and removed their verified badge, under our platform manipulation and spam policy.”
The incident has raised questions about Twitter's verification process, which recently returned with revamped criteria.
Under the rules, an account must be "authentic, notable and active" to get verified.
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