Twitter Wipes Out More Than 100K Accounts Linked To ISIS

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Twitter going to war against ISIS. Terrorists are using the social media site to recruit and inspire potential attackers. Now the company is cracking down, wiping out thousands of accounts linked to ISIS.

Rick Ritter has more on the efforts to step up security.

More than 100,000 accounts--all suspended--after pressure from both the White House and governments nationwide.

They've flooded the web with their heinous acts of terrorism, now ISIS takes a major hit on social media.

On Friday, Twitter suspended at least 125,000 accounts related to the terrorist group--all of these in the last few months.

"This just isn't about the United States, this is a global issue," said Maryland Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, 2nd District.

The group has largely relied on the tool to spread its propaganda worldwide.

Just weeks ago, a Maryland man was accused of accepting money from ISIS to plot attacks right here in the U.S.

"They would come and go. They were quiet. You never would have known," a neighbor said.

Before that, it was social media that led investigators to a 19-year-old Pennsylvania man, who was found with a backpack loaded with ammunition hiding behind his dryer.

Officials say the impact ISIS has on Twitter is massive and that the group mostly uses social media for recruiting.

"It's not only, social media, a recruiting tool, but it's also a tool to give instructions about how to attack and when to attack," Ruppersberger said.

Like Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, FBI Director James Comey has long warned about it.

"They find someone who doesn't want to travel, they try to convince them to kill where they stand," Comey said.

A difficult crackdown that's far from over.

Ritter: "How do we make sure these groups don't pop up with accounts again?"

Ruppersberger: "We have to be on top of this situation every day--and that's what our government's doing--but it's not easy."

Congressman Ruppersberger says he's hoping other social media companies will step up and follow suit, but experts say it's a fine line between protecting citizens and invading privacy.

Twitter says it condemns the use of its site to promote terrorism and wants to make it clear that this behavior or any violent threat is not permitted.