Twitter[1] removed the blue "verification" check marks from a handful of prominent white nationalists and far-right conservatives and issued new guidelines after the uproar that followed its decision to verify the organizer of the Charlottesville, Virginia, rally that took place in August.
The check marks are a visual cue that the company gives to prominent accounts to help readers ensure they are authentic.
Jason Kessler, the organizer of the August Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville that drew various factions of the new far right - white nationalists and supremacists, armed militias, and a former leader of Klu Klux Klan - before devolving into violence that left one counter-protester dead, was among those who said the blue check mark was taken away from his account Wednesday. Others who said they lost their verified status included the white nationalist Richard Spencer, far-right activists Laura Loomer and James Allsup, and Tommy Robinson, the host of a show on the fringe conservative site the Rebel TV. Tim Gionet, an alt-right figurehead who went by the name Baked Alaska, was suspended from the service.
The move marks the latest skirmish in a debate over speech that has exploded over the past couple years in both online forums like Twitter and those in the real world, like college campuses and city squares, as extremist figures with racially motivated views have increasingly moved into public view. And it comes as the publicly traded company faces increased pressure to weed out the hateful speech, images and threats that have blossomed on the service in recent years.
Those who had their authentication removed quickly complained - on Twitter, as they are still free to tweet and use the service regularly - that the move was an act of censorship.
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