Elon Musk introduced a plan on Monday to purge all previous Twitter accounts that haven’t seen any exercise in years. The objective is to liberate previous usernames however many individuals on the social media platform expressed concern. What occurs to the accounts of people that’ve died?

“We’re purging accounts which have had no exercise in any respect for a number of years, so you’ll in all probability see follower rely drop,” Musk tweeted on Monday.

However there was a whole lot of backlash following the announcement, with QZ reporter Scott Nover mentioning that many social media websites are “successfully digital graveyards,” noting that deleting the accounts of family members was “akin to eradicating a gravestone.”

Musk has made a lot of adjustments to Twitter since he purchased the platform in October 2022, together with a brand new blue checkmark program that forces customers to pay $8 monthly for “verficiation,” even though no truly ID verification is going down. Musk determined to treatment the truth that many individuals have been refusing to purchase checkmarks by handing out the blue checks to anybody with over 1 million f0llowers. In consequence, a whole lot of lifeless celebrities wound up getting blue checkmarks, together with accounts for Kobe Bryant, Anthony Bourdain and Chadwick Boseman, amongst loads of others.

Notably, Twitter truly introduced the same plan to liberate usernames again in 2019, however was met with exactly the identical issues being raised at the moment. Twitter finally determined to go away the accounts of lifeless customers untouched, one thing that little doubt gave consolation to individuals who had a beloved one with a dormant account.

Andrew Tate, a right-wing influencer, tweeted at Musk that he supported the concept of releasing up person names however that he didn’t need to see the account of his lifeless father disappear.

“Excellent concept. However my father died and I nonetheless learn his account each day. Please preserve him energetic,” Tate tweeted on Monday.

Musk has a historical past of saying dramatic adjustments after which usually backtracking when folks he respects present enter. Optimistically, Tate’s message has gotten by to the Twitter CEO.

Twitter responded to emailed questions on Monday with a poop emoji, an automatic response arrange by Musk that goes out to all reporters. I’ll replace this put up if I hear again with something resembling an actual reply.