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Report: Taliban Buying Blue Ticks on Twitter

    Report: Taliban Buying Blue Ticks on Twitter
    Last updated Jan 17, 2023
    Image credit: AFP [via BBC]

    Facts

    • On Monday, BBC reported that at least two senior Taliban leaders and four of its supporters are using Twitter's paid-for verification feature, acquiring blue ticks next to their user names.[1]
    • The senior Taliban leaders are identified as the head of the Taliban's department for access to information, Hedayatullah Hedayat, and the head of the media watchdog at the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture, Abdul Haq Hammad.[2]
    • Muhammad Jalal, one of the four prominent Taliban supporters with a blue tick, applauded CEO Elon Musk for buying and "making Twitter great again" the same day the BBC published its report.[3]
    • Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports claim Twitter has revoked Taliban officials and its supporters' blue tick, as the verified status can no longer be seen on three of the accounts.[2]
    • Prior to Musk's October 2022 Twitter takeover, verified status was only given to authentic accounts of public interest and couldn't be purchased. No Taliban officials had verified accounts.[4]
    • Today the blue tick costs $8 for Android users and $11 for iPhone users per month. Anyone who subscribes to Twitter Blue gets priority ranking in searches, mentions, and replies.[5]
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    Sources

    [1] BBC News [2] Daily Mail [3] Standard [4] RNZ [5] Deadline

    Spin

    Pro-establishment narrative

    Twitter's leniency toward the Taliban threatens to glorify violence and legitimize human rights abuses in Afghanistan. By allowing Taliban-affiliated accounts to use its platform, Musk potentially perpetuates extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and torture, systematic segregation of women in Afghanistan, and the war on freedom.

    Explained: How the Taliban have started buying blue ticks on Elon Musk’s Twitter

    Tech2Jan 17, 2023Jan 17, 2023

    Establishment-critical narrative

    The Taliban may not be considered the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan by the international community, but they have a right to a social media apparatus to counter what they consider Western propaganda. Musk's Blue Tick services don't promote Taliban messages, they simply allow community members to form their own opinions.

    The Taliban embrace social media: 'We too want to change perceptions'

    BBC NewsSep 06, 2021Sep 06, 2021

    Nerd narrative

    There's a 46% chance that Afghanistan will be used as a base for anti-NATO terrorism by 2026, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

    Afghanistan-based anti-NATO terrorism by 2026

    MetaculusJun 21, 2022Jun 21, 2022

    Establishment split

    CRITICAL

    PRO

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