Elon Musk, who took control of Twitter in October, has announced plans to address dormant accounts that have been inactive for “several years.”

Musk stated that it was necessary to free up abandoned usernames on the platform. However, this announcement sparked concerns as people worried about losing access to accounts belonging to deceased relatives. In response, Musk indicated that instead of deleting old accounts, they would be archived, potentially preserving access to them.

Users expressed concerns about accounts belonging to deceased celebrities, such as Anthony Bourdain, as well as tweets that held historical significance, particularly those from victims of tragedies. Some individuals called for a system to request the memorialization of accounts. On the other hand, some users suggested that idle accounts should be automatically archived to make usernames available.

Twitter’s policy regarding inactive accounts currently states that users must log in at least once every 30 days, and accounts may be permanently removed if left dormant. However, according to the Internet Archive, as of April 2023, the policy required users to log in every six months.