Twitter Verified Charlottesville White Nationalist Jason Kessler and People Are Freaking Out

“I don’t want to give up Twitter, but I may have to. Who do you value more, users like me or him?’ tweets Michael Ian Black

Earlier this week, Twitter verified Jason Kessler, the white nationalist and principal organizer behind the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left one dead in August — and many people are unhappy about it.

Strictly speaking, Twitter verification is not an endorsement of views. According to the social media company’s own guidelines, the blue check simply means that an account “of public interest is authentic.”

But in practice, Twitter routinely uses the verification badge as a mark of legitimacy and is willing to withhold it from certain highly influential accounts of public interest — like Julian Assange.

A Twitter spokesperson did not immediately respond to request for comment.

https://twitter.com/TheMadDimension/status/927991727088177152

 

Needless to say, the social media platform promptly exploded with news that Kessler had joined the exclusive club — particularly given some of Kessler’s tweets in the aftermath of the deadly demonstration in Charlottesville.

Kessler tweeted that the victim, Heather Heyer, “was a fat, disgusting Communist,” adding, “Communists have killed 94 million. Looks like it was payback time.” At the time, he also linked to an article from the Neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer.

Actor Michael Ian Black was particularly aggrieved.

https://twitter.com/michaelianblack/status/928446901510340608

https://twitter.com/michaelianblack/status/928447991647793152

https://twitter.com/michaelianblack/status/928455512806608896

Though he was hardly alone.

https://twitter.com/Toure/status/928473270751547392

https://twitter.com/jules_su/status/928442476364550144

https://twitter.com/seankent/status/928485658875789313

https://twitter.com/MamoudouNDiaye/status/928373693734060035

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