After controversially verifying a well-known white supremacist’s account earlier this week, Twitter announced on Thursday that it is halting its general verification program, The New York Times reports.
White supremacist Jason Kessler has previously used Twittter to organize the Charlottesville white supremacy rally and garner support for his movement. When the social media site verified his account, other Twitter users interpreted the move as a negative political act. Comedian Michael Ian Black, known for his role in Wet Hot American Summer, specifically called out Twitter for seemingly encouraging Kessler’s hateful actions and beliefs.
Hey @jack: very active user, 2.1M followers here: this is disgusting. Verifying white supremacists reinforces the increasing belief that your site is a platform for hate speech. I don’t want to give up Twitter, but I may have to. Who do you value more, users like me or him? https://t.co/5ymcNfFvH0
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) November 9, 2017
“Verifying white supremacists reinforces the increasing belief that your site is a platform for hate speech,” Black said, addressing Twitter’s chief executive Jack Dorsey. “Who do you value more, users like me or him?”
The upset over the verification, which is like the Holy Grail of internet fame, follows President Donald Trump’s Twitter account briefly disappearing last week. It was later discovered that a Twitter employee deactivated the president’s account, suggesting that if there’s any political message Twitter is trying to make, it’s that there’s definitely different opinions among those at the company.
“Verification was meant to authenticate identity and voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or importance,” Twitter wrote on Thursday. “We recognize that we have created this confusion and need to resolve it.”
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
Dorsey also responded to the change, writing, “We realized some time ago the system is broken and needs to be reconsidered. And we failed by not doing anything about it.”
There’s no word about when the verification system will return, but it’s clear from this backlash that Twitter has to reevaluate its policies.