Twitter accidentally suspends CEO Jack Dorsey's account

Twitter yesterday suspended CEO Jack Dorsey's account and attempts to reach  Dorsey's profile produced an error message saying it had been suspended. That led to speculation his account might have been hacked or automatically shut down due to a huge number of complaints from other users.

After his account was restored, Dorsey tweeted that the suspension was the result of "an internal mistake."

The explanation triggered angry responses from some people as they asked how many regular users' accounts might also have been accidentally frozen by the company in the past.

Soon after Dorsey's account came back online, the number of his followers was showing up as only about 145 - a steep drop from the roughly 3.9 million he had had previously. Later the number of followers were back up to around 3.8 million.

According to commentators, which users' account Twitter suspended or did not suspend  had become a highly sensitive topic. The platform had struggled to strike a balance between allowing free speech and protecting users from harassment.

Dorsey, one of the micro-blogging network's founders, served as the company's first CEO before being forced out in 2008. After returning to the business he took up top job again last year. 

The blunder marked the second time in a week that Twitter had made a high-profile mistake. On Thursday, Dorsey apologised after the platform accidently displayed an ad for a neo Nazi site. According to Twitter its ''automated system'' was to blame for the slip-up.

The accidental suspension of the CEO has led to speculation over whether Dorsey's account had been compromised. Even Silicon Valley entrepreneurs were not safe from hackers, with even Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder having had his Twitter and Pinterest accounts breached this year.