Bad week in social media gets worse; Twitter hammered

NEW YORK (AP) — Cracking down on hate, abuse and online trolls is also hurting Twitter's standing with investors.

The company's stock plunged this morning after it reported a decline in its monthly users and warned the number could fall further in the coming months.

The more than 17 percent drop in share value at the opening bell comes one day after Facebook lost 19 percent of its value – its worst trading day since Facebook went public in 2012.

Twitter, like other social media platforms, says it's putting its platform over user growth. That leaves investors seemingly unable to value what the biggest companies in the sector, which rely on their potential user reach, are worth.

Twitter had 335 million monthly users in the quarter, below the 339 million Wall Street was expecting, and down slightly from 336 million in the first quarter. That overshadowed a strong monthly user growth of 3 percent.

The company said its monthly user number could continue to fall in the "mid-single-digit millions" in the third quarter.

Long criticized for allowing hate, abuse and trolls to run rampant on its platform, Twitter has begun to crack down, banning accounts that violate its terms and making others less visible.

Twitter is now attempting to rein in the worst offenders after years as one of the Wild West corners of the internet.

At the same time, it must convince people it's the go-to platform in social media, even though it is dwarfed right now by Facebook.

Facebook has more than 2.23 billion users while its apps WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger each have more than 1 billion.