Report: Taliban Buying Blue Ticks on Twitter

Image credit: AFP [via BBC]

The 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.

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.


Metaculus Prediction

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 7.1.0

© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 7.1.0