SPAIN: On 20th January, Twitter officials said kickboxer Andrew Tate’s account was ‘verified in error’ despite the kickboxer having been blocked from the platform two times before. Andrew Tate, who polemically said that women should “bear some responsibility” for being raped, has used at least three accounts on the platform. With the verification of his Twitter account, the social media company appeared to ignore its own rules.
On the other side, Roshan Bhondekar who is a writer and filmmaker has questioned publicly Twitter about verification process flaws on 18th January 2022. In his tweet, he mentioned that he applied four times in the last 12 months for verification and received automated denied notification within two minutes, without any reasons for rejection.
In response to Bhondekar’s tweet, many verified people around the world have raised questions about the verification process and its transparency. Janet Machuka from Africa stated that “concerning the eligibility, he is meeting all criteria which fall under filmmaker category”.
Indian actor Swwapnil Joshi also spoken publicly “look and oblige. Roshan is doing some great work and absolutely needs to be verified to be able to reach out to more people with more power”.
Later, on 20th January 2022, Bhondekar shared another tweet while attaching the screenshot of an email that addressed Twitter Legal and its responsible parties of the public policy department who is leaded Vijaya Gadde from the United Stated and Payal Kamat from India. In his tweet, he mentioned the “Legal Technical Bug: Request for investigation”, which exposes the flaws in the verification process.
While talking to Bhondekar, he stated “I have been actively using Twitter since October 2010, my work/contribution is notable for public interest as an award winning Filmmaker. I have recently come across the situation, whereas after meeting all the required pre-requisite under – Individual in Entertainment category, my application is getting rejected and I am receiving denied notification within 2-5 minutes. I have requested Twitter legal team to investigate the case, as I have applied four times in the last 12 months. I feel that automated bot is having issue or there is some human intervention is involved in verification process”.
The New York Times reported on 20th May 2021 that entities that are eligible for getting verified on Twitter such as representatives from governments, companies, and news organizations are already eligible to be verified. In addition to that along with athletes, entertainers, and activists. To be eligible, users in those categories must confirm their email addresses or phone numbers and should not have recently violated Twitter rules.
Flaws in the verification process clearly show the inequality and lack of transparency as twitter verified Andrew Tate’s account and later said it was ‘verified in error’, despite the kickboxer having blocked from the platform two times before. Bhondekar’s account verification was rejected four times even meeting all eligibility and its prerequisite under the Individual in Entertainment category.
About Verified Accounts
As per Twitter guidelines, it is outlined as Individual accounts of artists, performers, directors, and others in similar public-facing roles associated with such entities or their productions can apply for verification if they meet the following requirements:
- Their profile links to an official website of a verified entertainment entity and their account must satisfy the criteria outlined in their category denoting “active” accounts.
- For the Individual in Entertainment category it is also required to provide a link to the applicant’s IMDB page containing 50+ production credits.
- The account must be active with a record of adherence to the Twitter Rules, which means it must have a profile name, and a profile image, must be public and the applicants must have logged into that account in the last six months. The applicants must also have a confirmed email address or phone number, and the account must not have had a 12-hour or 7-day lockout for violating the Twitter Rules in the past 12 months (excluding successful appeals).
Read also: The Director General Of Twitter Spain Nathalie Picquot Resigns
