Twitter stood by its new guidelines and finally took a step to delegitimize the platforms of white nationalists by unverifying their accounts. This came after backlash and controversy about the company issuing blue checkmarks to certain users which denotes their profiles as authentic.
Jason Kessler — the organizer of the August Unite the Right rally that drew various factions of the far right before devolving into violence that left one counterprotester dead in Charlottesville — was among those who said that 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 Rebel TV. Tim Gionet, an alt-right figurehead who went by the name Baked Alaska, was suspended from the service. [...]
Critics on the left have long contended that Twitter’s lenience with extremist accounts gives them the prominence and platform to help spread their messages.
This has been an ongoing debate among Twitter users, free speech advocates, Internet users and society-at-large. Among some of the questions being asked: Is a verification the same as an endorsement? When does free speech cross the line into hate speech? And when should it (hate speech) be censored?
The reaction of white nationalists to their being unverified is that they are being persecuted for their beliefs. Aww … poor wittle babies.
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.
Loomer compared the Twitter’s decision to Holocaust, saying that it evoked the “Final Solution,” the Nazi plan to exterminate Jews during World War II.
The decision, she said early Thursday morning, was politically motivated. [...]
Allsup tweeted that the move showed that “Twitter is complicit in anti-white hatred.”
Loomer’s Holocaust reference is so very gross that it shouldn’t merit a response. But if one were going to respond, it would be important to let her know that she’s a vile, hideous human being along with her friends. And that while they may have the constitutional right to say such repugnant and idiotic things, it doesn’t mean they are exempt from the consequences. Sorry, Laura. Even with a racist in the White House, America is not so far gone (not yet anyway) that claiming white supremacy and Nazism is a guarantee for popularity. Quite the opposite, actually. Any person or organization with good sense will stay as far away from these cretins as possible. That includes Twitter.
Of course, white nationalist extraordinaire Richard Spencer also had strong feelings about his blue checkmark being taken away. He’s outraged—mainly because he feels like this is the sign of the supposed white genocide that these fools are certain is coming.
Too bad for Richard that Twitter says it doesn’t have to comply with free-speech laws on its platform.
As a private company, Twitter has no legal free-speech obligations to those who use its service. It noted in its new guidelines that it “reserves the right to remove verification at any time without notice.”
Guess the Nazis and white supremacists will have to peddle their hateful garbage without being verified. Sad! Wonder if, with enough pressure, we can get Twitter to take away the blue checkmark from Donald Trump? Or better yet, deactivate his account entirely. It’s not very likely but it sure gives us something to dream about.
