Twitter users

Twitter admits 23m active users may be bots

NEW YORK: As many as 23 million of its 271 million monthly active users (MAUs) are not humans but "bots", says microblogging site Twitter in its new filing.

According to Twitter, "up to approximately 8.5%" of the accounts it considers active are automatically updated "without any discernible additional user-initiated action".

Twitter bots are essentially computer programmes that tweet of their own accord.

The new disclosure clarifies an earlier statement that 14% of MAUs access the service outside of the official website and mobile apps by using Twitter's application programming interface (API).

In a statement, Twitter specified that the 14% figure "included certain users who accessed Twitter through owned and operated applications".

While people access Twitter through its website and other clients, "bots" connect directly to the Twitter mainline, parsing the information in real time and posting at will.

"Only 11% of MAUs accessed Twitter from applications that the company does not own like Tweetbot or Flipboard," it added.