EDL founder Tommy Robinson stripped of Twitter blue tick in far-right crackdown Tommy Robinson, the high-profile former leader of the English Defence League, has been stripped of his “blue tick” on Twitter […]

Tommy Robinson, the high-profile former leader of the English Defence League, has been stripped of his “blue tick” on Twitter as the platform moved to crack down on far right speech.

The blue mark, which is used to verify the identity of prominent people on the platform, was also withdrawn from US white supremacist Richard Spencer and a number of other members of the US nationalist right.

Robinson posted the notice he received from Twitter, which informed him that the verification badge would be permanently removed, to his own account.

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He added: “The truth is now hate speech.”

Verified no more

Spencer, meanwhile, remarked: “Verified no more! Is it not okay to be proudly White?”

Alt right US commentator Laura Loomer and the white supremacist account @apurposefulwife were also among those unverified, while the alt right vlogger Baked Alaska had his account suspended outright.

New rules announced by Twitter reaffirmed the company’s right to “remove verification at any time without notice”.

Twitter’s potential causes for losing verification include: Intentionally misleading people on Twitter by changing one’s display name or bio.Promoting hate and/or violence against, or directly attacking or threatening other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease. Supporting organizations or individuals that promote the above.

Inciting or engaging in harassment of others.

Violence and dangerous behavior:

Directly or indirectly threatening or encouraging any form of physical violence against an individual or any group of people, including threatening or promoting terrorism

Violent, gruesome, shocking, or disturbing imagery

Self-harm, suicide

Engaging in activity on Twitter that violates the Twitter Rules.

Twitter crackdown

The crackdown comes after criticism of the social network for providing a platform for hate speech. The blue tick, which was initially intended to defend against identity theft for the likes of celebrities and journalists, has appeared to confer an “elite” status to accounts that display it, leading to questions as to why members of the far right were eligible.

Twitter announced that it had “paused” its verification process last week before making the move on the right-wing accounts last night.

Milo Yiannapoulos, a former editor at the right-wing site Breitbart, has his blue tick removed and was eventually suspended last year over targeted harassment.

Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, has meanwhile been unable to gain verified status in the first place. He has resorted at times to using a blue emoji in place of the official tick.