Twitter Releases New Guidelines On Wielding The Almighty Blue Check Mark

I’m not part of the blue check mark brigade and probably never will be. (I’m talking about my personal account. Twitter verified the crap out of our main @chicksonright account, and that’s where the party’s at anyway.)

But personally? I suck at Twitter. I don’t mind the platform, but it takes a lot of dedication and consistency to build up a Twitter following, and I have to be honest: I don’t have the discipline. I don’t have that many followers, (a little over 1,000), and if you’re one of those people, you’ve probably noticed that I tweet in spurts. I have like 2 or 3 days where I’m ON IT, then I go days without tweeting a thing. I really want to work on that. I know I should be more engaged, but instead of tweeting about something, I usually just end up writing a post instead. And on my “days off,” I don’t really feel like tweeting about politics. I like to unplug.

The struggle is real.

For those reasons, I don’t see myself getting verified anytime soon.

Speaking of verification, Twitter has changed the rules and guidelines.

Verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance. We recognize that we have created this confusion and need to resolve it. We have paused all general verifications while we work and will report back soon

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 9, 2017

1 / UPDATE on our verification program and the actions we’re taking.

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 15, 2017

2 / Verification has long been perceived as an endorsement. We gave verified accounts visual prominence on the service which deepened this perception. We should have addressed this earlier but did not prioritize the work as we should have.

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 15, 2017

3 / This perception became worse when we opened up verification for public submissions and verified people who we in no way endorse.

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 15, 2017

4 / We’re working on a new authentication and verification program. In the meantime, we are not accepting any public submissions for verification and have introduced new guidelines for the program. https://t.co/j6P0HGXIVq

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 15, 2017

5 / We are conducting an initial review of verified accounts and will remove verification from accounts whose behavior does not fall within these new guidelines. We will continue to review and take action as we work towards a new program we are proud of.

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 15, 2017

Because the blue check mark has been viewed as an endorsement rather than a confirmation of the identity of the person, Twitter’s changing things up. It notes multiple times that it “reserves the right to remove verification at any time without notice.” An account can have its verified status stripped away for “promoting hate and/or violence against, or directly attacking or threatening other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease.”

In accordance with the Twitter Terms of Service, Twitter may remove the verified badge and verified status of a Twitter account at any time. A verified account may also lose its verified status if changes to the profile settings modify the account’s original purpose.

Previously verified accounts may not be eligible to have badges restored.

The thing is, that’s all subject to interpretation. Twitter is actually stripping badges away like crazy.

Twitter has changed their verification policy just to be able to censor me. Several other accounts were unverified including Richard Spencer and James Allsup while Baked Alaska was permanently suspended altogether. pic.twitter.com/PO1QnJC2C6

— Jason Kessler (@TheMadDimension) November 15, 2017

It happened to Laura Loomer too.

And so it begins. Twitter is quick to call me and others Nazis, but they are literally trying to eradicate my presence. Just like Hitler. https://t.co/qaVWOMKyc0

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) November 16, 2017

For the record, I’m not on board with her comparison.

Are you equating getting your twitter verification taken away to being a victim of the literal holocaust?

— j (@highkeysalty) November 16, 2017

Nope. You still have an account. You can still write and post and – let’s be clear – THEY ARE NOT THE GOVERNMENT AND THEY DO NOT HAVE THE POWER TO IMPRISON OR EXTERMINATE YOU OR DECLARE WAR SO THE ANALOGY DOES NOT REALLY HOLD

— Tom Coates (@tomcoates) November 16, 2017

How come Linda Sarsour, who LITERALLY CALLED FOR JIHAD AGAINST @realDonaldTrump still has her blue check mark?

Is promoting Sharia Law and Islamic terrorism on Twitter not a violation of Jack’s new rules?

Again, this is 100% politically motivated. @TwitterSupport @jack pic.twitter.com/SCjiDp23oB

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) November 16, 2017

That’s a good point.

.@JamesOKeefeIII and @JulianAssange are also not verified on twitter. They are more important and more influential than 99% of the verified people on twitter.

I am in good company.

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) November 16, 2017

Just wanted to say thank you to all of my supporters who have stood by me despite Twitter’s attack on conservatives. The attacks against me are 100% political and shed more light onto how hostile the tech and social media industry is to anyone who challenges left wing agendas.

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) November 16, 2017

At the end of the day, life could be worse. I’m complaining about de-verification, but in some places in the world, ppl are killed just for using their voice. There’s more important issues and I’m better off directing my energy toward my investigations and helping the voiceless. pic.twitter.com/u3vkvLWhiu

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) November 16, 2017

Ultimately, Twitter can do whatever it wants, but it’s clear it’s ALSO viewing blue check marks as endorsements rather than authentication.

Blue badges were originally intended to verify the identity of the individual. That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.