Popular social media deletes 6.3B fake accounts and 11.1B spam content pieces annually

The scenario of communicating with fake users and interacting with scam content on social media has become a daily reality. For some major platforms such as Facebook and TikTok, the situation is frustrating, as they have to remove billions of fake accounts and pieces of spam content from the platforms annually. The amount of fake users significantly surpasses Facebook and X active user base.

In the dark market, fake social media account prices start from as little as $0.08. The trend is worrying: being exposed to huge amounts of lies on social media makes it easy for a regular user to get scammed.

Key insights

• In an effort to protect users from scams and misinformation and to keep experience authentic, social media platforms are constantly removing massive amounts of fake accounts. An analysis of transparency reports reveals the staggering scale of this cleanup: Facebook alone removes an average of 4.5 billion fake accounts annually, followed by TikTok at 1 billion, X (formerly Twitter) at 671 million, and LinkedIn at 112 million. Additionally, YouTube terminates an average of 25 million channels annually, resulting in the removal of 311 million spam-related videos hosted on those channels.
• Social media platforms must also aggressively combat spam generated by these fake accounts, with moderation efforts often reaching into the billions. Facebook leads in content removals, purging an average of 4.7 billion pieces of spam content annually. YouTube follows by removing 3.6 billion spam-related comments from videos each year. TikTok also reports high volumes, deleting an average of 1.4 billion comments and 671 million videos attributed to fake accounts. In comparison, Instagram removes 271 million pieces of spam content, while LinkedIn eliminates 200 million instances of spam and scam content annually.
• Comparing removal volumes to active users reveals the enormous scale of platform moderation. On some platforms, the number of annual removals rivals or even exceeds the entire active user base. Facebook, with 3 billion active users, removes 4.5 billion fake accounts annually — a volume 1.5 times its user count. Similarly, X reports removing 671 million accounts for platform manipulation and spam each year, a figure that surpasses its 570 million active users.
• Other platforms demonstrate a significant, though less extreme, ratio. TikTok, with 1.9 billion active users, removes roughly 1 billion fake accounts annually, equivalent to over half its user base. LinkedIn, serving 310 million active users, removes 112 million fake accounts per year, representing more than a third of its active user base. Finally, YouTube's moderation is also notable. With an estimated 60 million active channels, its annual termination of 25 million spam channels means it removes a quantity equivalent to over 40% of its active channel base each year.
• Fake accounts are often used by bad actors to artificially boost engagement — writing fake comments, giving likes, or following other accounts. The business model typically works in two steps: first, hackers acquire as many fake accounts as they can, either by creating them or purchasing them in bulk. Once enough accounts are gathered, hackers begin using them for their own ends or selling services to promote questionable products, increase engagement, or push political agendas. Fake social media account prices start from as little as $0.08¹, and the price increases depending on the account's age, number of friends or followers, country of origin, and platform. Of course, such services violate the terms of service of social media platforms, which are constantly working to reduce this behavior.

Methodology and sources

This study collected data from the official transparency reports of Meta, Google, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn. The data focused on removed spam content and fake account numbers across these social media platforms. Specifically, we gathered information for Facebook, YouTube, X, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

Data collection began in 2021, as this was the earliest year for which Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn all had available data. X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, however, only had data available from the second half of 2024.

Since some platforms reported data quarterly and others semi-annually, we adjusted the figures by calculating average annual numbers for spam and fake content. Additionally, we collected data on monthly active users and cross-referenced these figures with the number of removed fake accounts.

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