Taliban started buying $8 Twitter blue ticks; marks vanish after outrage

With Elon Musk selling Twitter’s coveted blue ticks, the BBC reported on Monday that the Taliban were having a field day buying some. However, after many Twitter users expressed outrage on the microblogging site owned by Elon Musk, those Twitter account verifications seemed to have been removed.

According to the BBC report, at least two Taliban officials were using the blue tick, which indicates an authenticated account. One was Hedayatullah Hedayat, head of the Taliban’s department for “access to information.” The other was Abdul Haq Hammad, head of the media watchdog at the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture.

While Hedayat has 187,000 followers, Hammad has 170,000. Hedayat’s paid-for blue tick was reportedly removed in December 2022, but it returned, only to be removed again. People are regularly updated about the Taliban administration on his account.

Also read: Taliban says overturning restrictions against women not a priority

Four prominent supporters of the Islamist hardliners in Afghanistan were also using the blue tick, reported the BBC. Muhammad Jalal, who once identified as a Taliban official, tweeted in praise of Elon Musk on Monday, thanking him for “making Twitter great again.”

Musk faces flak

However, on Tuesday, the blue ticks had been removed, though it was not clear whether Twitter itself removed these after the outrage.

After the BBC report on Monday, one Twitter user wrote sarcastically, “Make sure your twitter dealings with the Taliban are with the ‘real deal’ with verified accounts.”

Another simply wrote: “Well done Musk!”

There has been no public response from either Twitter or Musk on the situation.

Also read: What do Twitter’s gold, grey, blue checkmarks, official and automated labels mean?

Before Musk took over the social media site in October last year, the blue tick indicated “active, notable, and authentic accounts of public interest” and was verified by Twitter. It could not be bought.

However, shortly after the takeover, the billionaire announced that the blue tick would be sold through the new Twitter Blue service introduced in December. It costs $8 per month, and $11 for those using Apple devices. According to Twitter, these subscribers enjoy “priority ranking in search, mentions, and replies.”

After returning to power in Kabul in August 2021, the Taliban took over the verified accounts of the previous administration. However, before Twitter Blue, none of the mentioned Taliban officials had the blue tick.