Twitter users were outraged at the social media giant on Thursday because it gave verification status to one of the organizers of the far-right rally in Charlottesville this past August.
Jason Kessler, an alt-right blogger who was one of the organizers of the Unite the Right demonstration that resulted in the death of an anti-racist protester, received the coveted blue checkmark on Tuesday.
‘Looks like I FINALLY got verified by Twitter,’ Kessler tweeted on Tuesday.
‘I must be the only working class white advocate with that distinction.’
After Heather Heyer, a counter-protester, was killed after she was run over by a suspected neo-Nazi who plowed his car into a group of demonstrators during the August 12 rally, Kessler tweeted: ‘Heather Heyer was a fat, disgusting Communist. Communists have killed 94 million. Looks like it was payback time.’
Jason Kessler, an alt-right blogger who was one of the organizers of the Unite the Right demonstration that resulted in the death of an anti-racist protester, received the coveted blue verification checkmark from Twitter on Tuesday
‘Looks like I FINALLY got verified by Twitter,’ Kessler tweeted on Tuesday. ‘I must be the only working class white advocate with that distinction’
Kessler deleted the tweet a day later after a significant backlash.
Twitter’s verification system is designed to distinguish certain accounts of individuals whose tweets are ‘of public interest.’
‘An account may be verified if it is determined to be an account of public interest,’ the company says on its web site.
‘Typically this includes accounts maintained by users in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas.’ But it later added: ‘A verified badge does not imply an endorsement by Twitter.’
Nonetheless, Twitter users were furious over the decision to reward Kessler with a blue badge because they believe it implies an endorsement of his far-right, white nationalist views.
Kessler was one of the organizers of the Unite the Right rallies during the weekend of August 11-12 in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is seen above on August 11 during the tiki torch march through the campus of the University of Virginia
Kessler is seen above being escorted away by police in Charlottesville on August 12
Heather Heyer, an anti-racist counter-protester in Charlottesville, was killed on August 12 when she and others were plowed into by a suspected neo-Nazi who was driving his car. Kessler tweeted that Heyer’s death was ‘payback time’
![Kessler's views are considered far-right - perhaps even racist. After Democrats made gains in the Virginia elections this week, he tweeted that the state 'looks like a third world bazaar' because of the 'large swathes of the state [that] have no recognizable Americans'](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/11/10/00/462E9ECD00000578-0-image-a-42_1510273234100.jpg)
Kessler’s views are considered far-right – perhaps even racist. After Democrats made gains in the Virginia elections this week, he tweeted that the state ‘looks like a third world bazaar’ because of the ‘large swathes of the state [that] have no recognizable Americans’
‘This is disgusting,’ actor-comedian Michael Ian Black tweeted to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
‘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?’
‘Oh look the nazi who organized the deadly demonstration in Charlottesville got verified by Twitter,’ tweeted Alex Leo.
‘Thanks Jack – cause we all wanted 280 [characters per tweet] and more nazis.’
Jack Dorsey, the founder and CEO of Twitter, announced on Thursday that Twitter would halt all verification requests as it decides how to respond to the backlash
Earlier on Thursday, the company tried to explain its verification criteria, but angry Twitter users were not convinced. Some of them accused the company of providing a platform to racism and white supremacism
Rebecca Watson tweeted that the company was lying about its claim that verification was simply a means to confirm a user’s identity rather than a sign of higher social status.
‘I begged for verification for ages after needing to upload my ID three times to stop trolls who made fake Rebecca Watson accounts,’ she tweeted.
‘”Verify me so I can stop doing this”. “No, you’re not important enough”.’
In response to the backlash, Twitter announced that it would suspend its verification system for the time being while it re-evaluates criteria.
The social media site has become sensitive to criticism that it provides a platform for hate speech.
‘Verification was meant to authenticate identity and voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance,’ the company said in a tweet on Thursday.
‘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.’
Dorsey acknowledged on Thursday that ‘the system is broken.’
‘We should’ve communicated faster on this (yesterday): our agents have been following our verification policy correctly, but we realized some time ago the system is broken and needs to be reconsidered,’ Dorsey tweeted on Thursday.
‘And we failed by not doing anything about it. Working now to fix faster.’