Twitter 'verifies' Muslim Brotherhood while expelling conservatives

Social media users have long considered Twitter's coveted blue check mark an online status symbol.

While formally used as a way to visually display that Twitter has confirmed a given user's identity, marketing specialists say that the little blue check mark is immense advantage to promoting one's brand and message.

 Twitter says verified accounts are those viewed as being in the "public interest," and emphasizes "users in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas."

It's no wonder then, that social media erupted when it was discovered that the Twitter decided to verify @Ikhwanweb, the official twitter handle of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Critics have rightly pointed out that @Ikhwanweb has been used by the Muslim Brotherhood to promote violence, including publishing a 2015 call for violent jihad and "martyrdom," and spreads anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, and anti-Western hatred online.

Yet while Twitter has failed against Islamic extremists, it's proven remarkably effective at purging right-wing voices with which it apparently disagrees.

As an example, Twitter notably yanked the same blue checkmark from Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos in January of this year before finally permanently banning the online provocateur.

Twitter argues that verification does not represent an endorsement but their use of revoking verification as a form of punishment against those with whom it disagrees belies the fact.

Twitter has also successfully purged controversial "alt-right" twitter accounts from its platform, leading Hollywood actor James Woods, a noted conservative with an active twitter following, to announce he would quit the social media platform over what he regarded as censorship.

SOURCE