Following “outrage” over the “Twitter Blue” policy, new checks on Elon Musk’s Twitter network that verified the accounts of Taliban officials have disappeared, according to media sources. Following a revelation by the BBC earlier this week that the Taliban was paying for the verification as part of Musk’s new business plan to earn money, the check marks started to vanish.
Because of the subsequent uproar, it was unclear if the microblogging website or the Taliban erased the check marks, according to Business Insider. Although fake profiles have also been inadvertently “confirmed,” the checkmarks are meant to validate the identity of people who have Twitter profiles.
The blue ticks represented “active, significant, and legitimate accounts of public interest,” verified by Twitter and unavailable for purchase before Musk acquired Twitter in October for $44 billion.
However, Twitter Blue users now receive “priority ranking in search, mentions, and responses,” according to the social media site. Musk’s new system costs $8 a month.
According to the BBC, the check marks were being used by two Taliban officials, four critical Afghan sympathizers, and other Taliban militants as of early last week.
Hedayatullah Hedayat, the chief of the Taliban’s “access to information” division, was one of those “verified” Twitter identities, according to the BBC, and he had 187,000 followers. According to The Guardian, top Taliban media officer Abdul Haq Hammad, who has 170,000 followers, was also “checked” earlier this week.
The premium membership would join Twitter Blue
Since then, the checks have disappeared from Hedayat and Haq Hammad’s profiles.
According to Muhammad Jalal, a Taliban spokesman, Musk was congratulated last Monday for “making Twitter great again,” according to the BBC.
According to The Guardian, the Taliban gained control of the Twitter accounts of the previous Afghan government after seizing control in August 2021.
No one on the social media platform could be reached for comment because the company no longer maintains a media office.
The premium membership would join Twitter Blue, a business model in which users pay a fee to gain access to features like an edit button and a verified blue checkmark. For iOS and Android users, Twitter Blue costs $11 per month, while users of desktop computers pay $8 per month. It was not immediately apparent what the price of the ad-free tier was.
The upcoming subscription comes at a time when Musk has been having problems with advertising ever since he took control in October 2022. Many people are worried by the executive’s erratic behavior and contempt for content control, while others remove entirely their advertisements.
