Twitter: Accounts targeting Ecuador’s president deleted

QUITO, Ecuador – Twitter has taken down 1,019 accounts in Ecuador, saying they’re mostly fake and aimed at undermining President Lenín Moreno.

Twitter on Friday said the accounts tied to the PAIS Alliance political party posted content about the president’s administration, focusing on free speech, government censorship and technology.

The move by Twitter is part of an initiative to foster public understanding of how the social media platform can be manipulated.

Ecuador’s Moreno rose to power two years ago as a successor to then-President Rafael Correa, but they soon had a political falling out, which also divided their party.

The branch remaining loyal to Correa has become a source of criticism toward Moreno.

Network administrators say they also removed accounts in Saudi Arabia, Spain, China, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.