After Twitter Yanks Verified Status, She Cites Holocaust

That from Laura Loomer, who along with Richard Spencer and others lost the blue tick
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 16, 2017 9:45 AM CST
After Twitter Yanks Verified Status, a Holocaust Comparison
This April 26, 2017, file photo shows the Twitter app on a mobile phone in Philadelphia.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

A few Twitter users lost the coveted blue tick on Wednesday after Twitter released new guidelines regarding verified accounts. The move came after the company was attacked for granting verified status to Jason Kessler, who put together the white nationalist rally that rocked Charlottesville in August (and issued this "vile" tweet about victim Heather Heyer). In a series of tweets, Twitter explained that "verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice ... [but] 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."

General verification requests had been put on ice as of Nov. 9 pending a review of the program, and the Guardian reports that Twitter's new policy specifies that accounts that promote hate, support hate groups, or harass users will see verification revoked. Among those to immediately lose the check, per the Washington Post, were Kessler, white nationalist Richard Spencer, and far-right activist Laura Loomer (known for rushing the stage during Julius Caesar and being banned from Uber and Lyft after anti-Muslim tweets). Loomer's response to her notice of verification removal including tweeting "Translation: I'm a conservative" and, per Splinter, comparing her situation to that of Jews during the Holocaust. (More Twitter stories.)

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