Twitter Discards Verified Blue Checks Reportedly Purchased By Taliban Leaders

The microblogging social media platform Twitter has removed account verification for Taliban leaders who were using a paid-for verification feature to get the verified blue tick. Hedayatullah Hedayat and Abdul Haq Hammad, two senior Taliban figures, both had blue ticks as of Monday, according to the Guardian.

Hedayatullah Hedayat is the head of the Taliban's department for "access to information," and Abdul Haq Hammad, head of the media watchdog at the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture.

According to the news outlet, only "active, prominent, and authentic accounts of public interest" were previously given the blue "verified" check mark by Twitter. However, users can now purchase them through the Twitter Blue service for a price since Elon Musk acquired the site last year.

When the BBC reported that Afghanistan's hardline Islamist rulers had begun using Twitter's paid-for verification service, it sparked criticism from a number of social media users throughout the world.

According to the news outlet, the presence of hard-line Islamists on Twitter has been a topic of controversy for some time. In October 2021, former US President Donald Trump, who was suspended from the platform after his supporters ransacked the US Capitol, said: "We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favourite American President has been silenced."

"The Twitter Blue service was introduced in December. It costs $8 per month, and an increased fee of $11 is paid by those using the Twitter app on Apple devices."

Twitter Blue subscribers gain "priority ranking in search, mentions, and responses" to help fight spam and bots, according to the site.

The Taiban leaders have been communicating with the rest of the world and disseminating their decisions for a very long time using Twitter.