Kabul: Head of Taliban’s department for “Access to information”, Hedayatullah Hedayat and its top media watchdog, Abdul Haq Hammad, each had blue ticks on their accounts.

Both of their accounts have 187,000 and 170,000 followers each. Hedayat’s which regularly publishes information about Taliban administration matters had previously got its tick back after it was first removed in December.

Thank you @elonmusk for buying twitter. Elon Musk in making twitter great again.

— Muhammad Jalal (@MJalal700) January 16, 2023

Muhammad Jalal, Taliban official even praised Musk for verifications and for “Making Twitter great again.”

However, account verifications bought by Taliban appear to have been removed after many expressed outrage that 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 platform last year, users can buy them from Twitter Blue service for fee an option at least two officials of Taliban government in Afghanistan had exercised.

Published in The Daily National Courier, January, 18 2023

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