Twitter ‘verified’ check marks bought by Taliban appear to have been removed

Afghanistan's hardline Islamist rulers had never carried a verification tick mark before the launch of Twitter Blue

Twitter account verifications bought by the Taliban appear to have been removed, after many expressed outrage that the social media platform had given its blue check marks to Afghanistan's hardline Islamist rulers.

Twitter previously only gave blue verified" check marks to accounts that were considered active, notable and authentic accounts of public interest". But since Elon Musk acquired the platform last year, users can buy them from the Twitter Blue service for a fee - an option at least two officials of the Taliban government in Afghanistan had exercised.