Twitter prepared to purge inactive accounts as part of moves to present more credible user information and encourage people to actively use its service after registering, the company told Mobile World Live.

A representative explained the social media company had begun contacting users “who have not logged into Twitter in over six months”, warning their accounts may be permanently deleted if they don’t log in by 11 December.

Twitter said the move aimed to present “more accurate, credible information people can trust across Twitter”.

The company’s policy states an account is kept active if a user logs in and posts a Tweet at least every six months, otherwise “accounts may be permanently removed due to prolonged inactivity”.

BBC News stated the scale of the removal effort could be the largest yet by Twitter, noting millions of accounts were expected to be removed. Twitter will initially focus on non-US accounts, it added.

The move is not expected to affect Twitter’s reported user count as the company keeps track of daily log in numbers, which amounted to 145 million at end-Q3.

Twitter will reportedly also look into taking measures covering the accounts of people who log in but don’t use the platform.

A representative told The Verge the company was also mulling how to handle accounts belonging to the deceased, with a memorial page among the options being considered.