Twitter said on Tuesday it mistakenly verified some fake accounts that the social media company has now permanently suspended, months after restarting its verification program.
But the news comes as the social media giant has removed prominent conservatives or prevented the spread of news those on the right want to read.
The company in May relaunched verifications after a yearslong freeze on public submissions for the site's blue check marks, saying only "notable" users would be awarded the badge.
"We mistakenly approved the verification applications of a small number of inauthentic (fake) accounts," a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement.
"We have now permanently suspended the accounts in question, and removed their verified badge, under our platform manipulation and spam policy."
The social media company had paused the verification program in 2017 amid criticism that it was arbitrary and confusing. It said at the time the check mark was being confused with "an endorsement or an indicator of importance."
Under Twitter's new verification rules, accounts must have been active in the last six months and fit one of several criteria: government, companies, brands and organizations, news outlets and journalists, entertainment, sports and gambling, activists, organizers and other influential individuals.
But many conservatives find little comfort in Twitter's actions. Breitbart reported that the site took action only after the Twitter account @conspirator0 pointed out the existence of fake accounts that have blue check marks but essentially do nothing but tweet Korean spam.
Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe is among prominent conservatives who have received permanent Twitter bans, Breitbart noted, pointing out that O'Keefe's ban came in April after Project Veritas was releasing undercover footage of CNN employees reportedly admitting to using "propaganda." Project Veritas' official Twitter account was also suspended.
Twitter also censored photos from Project Veritas of migrants sleeping in cramped quarters after President Joe Biden's immigration program was put into effect. Twitter told Breitbart at the time that the "potentially sensitive content" link users were required to click through was a "mistake."
During the 2020 presidential campaign, the New York Post found itself locked out of its own Twitter account after posting its own story about Hunter Biden's laptop, and other Twitter users were unable to share the story as well.
Twitter determined the story, which the Post had researched, was untrue. Mainstream outlets later reported the essential elements of the story, once Biden's father, Joe Biden, had won the presidency over incumbent Republican Donald Trump.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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