Taliban buys verified blue ticks on Twitter; removed later

The Taliban have made prolific use of Twitter since seizing power in Afghanistan

The microblogging social media platform Twitter reportedly removed the verified blue tick for Taliban leaders who were using the paid feature.

According to a BBC report, at least two Taliban officials and four prominent supporters in Afghanistan were using the Twitter Blue feature.

Hedayatullah Hedayat, the head of the Taliban’s department for “access to information”, as well as Abdul Haq Hammad, head of the media watchdog at the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture, reportedly had the blue tick but have now been removed.

The Taliban have made liberal use of both Facebook and Twitter since seizing power in Afghanistan, and have a firm grip on state-owned media in the country — including radio and television stations, and newspapers.

Earlier in July 2022, Facebook also removed the accounts of at least two state-owned media outlets in Afghanistan, the company confirmed to AP, saying it was complying with laws in the United States listing the Taliban as a “terrorist organisation”.

While most accounts linked to the former Western-backed government have been dormant since the takeover, new “official” ones have proliferated — although none with Twitter’s blue tick of authenticity.

Twitter had launched a subscription service for $8 a month in November 2022 that included a blue checkmark now given to verified accounts. In an update to Apple iOS devices, Twitter said users who “sign up now” can receive the blue checkmark next to their names “just like the celebrities, companies and politicians you already follow.”