Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 10-11-2017

Social media website Twitter says it has temporarily halted verifying users accounts in the wake of criticism over an organizer of the Charlottesville rally having received a coveted blue check mark on his profile.

Jason Kessler, a white nationalist who has taken credit for organizing the “United the Right” rally that led to the death of a counter protester, promoted his new Twitter verification on Tuesday. His profile features a confederate flag and notes that he has written for far-right websites.

Twitter says 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.”

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

 In a separate tweet, company CEO Jack Dorsey called the system “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. And we failed by not doing anything about it. Working now to fix faster.”

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. And we failed by not doing anything about it. Working now to fix faster. https://t.co/wVbfYJntHj

— jack (@jack) November 9, 2017

The company did not say how long it would suspend the verification program or how it would fix it.

A Twitter spokeswoman says that any further updates would be tweeted from the Twitter Safety account.

Twitter takes steps to ensure that certain public figures or people who produce work that’s in the public interest are who they say they are. Typically those people are celebrities, politicians, or journalists. Once the company has authenticated such users, it places a “verified” checkmark next to their names.

Twitter: @FaizelPatel143