Twitter "verifies" and gives blue check mark to weird "Trusted Report Team" fact checking account, which then spreads misinformation

[Dan Druff]

Looks like Twitter got clowned.

They blue-check-marked a weird new account called "Trusted Report Team", which signed up in February, had virtually no followers, and no credentials. Their website is a Blogspot account.

It has since been pumping out "fact checks" which are either false or literal regurgitations of Snopes.


As I'm writing this, it only has 54 followers.




Here's a phony fact check they just posted:

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1366833365219876867

Fact check: Biden reopened 'cages' in migrant detention facilities
Claim: Biden reopened 'cages' in migrant detention facilities.

Fact Check by the Trusted Report Team: False. Biden has not reopened any 'cages' in migrant detention facilities. Any 'cages' are from the previous administration, and have been open for a very long time.

Here's the Washington Post confirming last week that Biden reopened a "migrant facility for children": https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...117_story.html

While this doesn't mean the kids are in "cages", it's hilarious how the Trusted Report Team simply talks about "the previous administration", and doesn't bother to mention that "previous" meant OBAMA, not Trump.


While I was typing this up, they just protected their tweets! LOL!!!

Another tweet (which I can no longer access) simply gave a Snopes link in response to a claim they were "fact checking".


Great job with that fact checking and account verifying, Twitter!

[Dan Druff]

For those wondering, blue check marks are supposed to be for high profile accounts of well known people or entities, in order to keep them from being impersonated.

Thus, if you start up a new biased "fact checking" service which nobody has ever heard of, it doesn't qualify for a blue check mark, because it has no social standing. It's unknown, and thus isn't eligible for blue check mark status. You have to be notable in some way to get a blue check mark.

Obviously some guy tricked Twitter into believing he had a legit fact checking operation, and Twitter is so fact check obsessed that they bought it. Now the tweets are protected, presumably by Trusted Report Team, out of embarrassment that their early fact checking was full of mistakes, and they're hoping this story goes away.

[Dan Druff]

Here's the person who runs "Trusted Report Team":

https://www.blogger.com/profile/08850158245542336851

Listed as "SH Blogs LLC", and really seems to be one person. Been on Blogspot since April 2020.

My blogs

Trusted Report Team
Sinatraa Jay Won Exposed
Ministry of Chargebacks
Detractor Union
Shana Flames
Sophia Narwitz News
Detractor Rebel Alliance News
Emmyuh



About me

Location Los Angeles, California, United States
Introduction Premium online website development company.



Weird.

[JoeD]

FYI Twitter wasn't adding verified blue checks in February 2021, when the account you are referring to was apparently created.

I was thinking to try and get it for my real life account so I looked it up in early February. If you go to the Twitter Help Center and look up Verification FAQ, this is what it says:


Can I apply for verification now?
We plan to relaunch verification, including a new public application process, in early 2021. There is no way to apply for verification today.

[BCR]

One of the right wing goofs here posted some obvious bullshit last week, and it came from a blue check marked twitter account. I thought to myself it was obvious misinformation, checked the site, and it had been created in 2011 and hadn’t made a tweet in like 8 years and all of a sudden popped up 8 years later as some breaking news source and had trolled its follower list up to thousands of members over the previous month, no doubt by spamming the loons with shit they’re wanted to hear and they subsequently followed. Every tweet up until this year had like 3 likes and all of a sudden had thousands of shares and hearts on every other whacked out tweet.

I would guess you’re seeing politics here, but it seems since the election shit, they are concerned about competition and being incredibly lax on verifying blue check marks.

Edit-

I see Joe D’s post, and now I’m wondering if someone found a hack to circumvent system?

This site wasn’t even close to a site that was serious. Agree or disagree with a tweet, usually they were a relevant person or source. You never had to be ideologically serious, but you had to have a following and be respected in some aspect or be attached to something that gave you credibility. I’ve seen sites the last month that were completely nonsensical and lied dormant for years.

I thought to myself twitter is going to lose credibility giving blue check marks out to people posting silliness without followings.

I would guess something is going on as I’ve never seen this until past month. Either someone internally can be bought, or there is some hack and people are exploiting it. They better plug it quickly.

[Dan Druff]

I haven't seen any BS right wing blue check accounts. Yeah, I've seen some with conspiratorial material, but they had a following. I've never seen the right wing equivalent of this Trusted Report Team account. Maybe you have, though, BCR. Can you link one of them next time you run into it?

Looking at this guy's other blogs, he seems more like a troll/parody type guy, and not even someone trying to put out serious political commentary. For example, his "Ministry of Chargebacks" blog, while barely used, pretends to be an official authority on (presumably credit card) chargebacks.

I guess it's possible he's trying to branch out into fact checking now, but I'd love to know how he pulled off the blue check mark, especially given that they're supposedly not being awarded anymore.

The protecting of his tweets was interesting, too. You'd think he'd WANT publicity, even on the negative side. If the right wing hates you, then the left is more likely to be warm to you.

But it kind of looks like his plan was to slowly build up credibility and a following, and not go viral at the beginning of the whole thing, thus raising questions about his credentials and lack of following.

Bizarre.

[dwai]

I haven't seen any BS right wing blue check accounts. Yeah, I've seen some with conspiratorial material, but they had a following. I've never seen the right wing equivalent of this Trusted Report Team account. Maybe you have, though, BCR. Can you link one of them next time you run into it?

Looking at this guy's other blogs, he seems more like a troll/parody type guy, and not even someone trying to put out serious political commentary. For example, his "Ministry of Chargebacks" blog, while barely used, pretends to be an official authority on (presumably credit card) chargebacks.

I guess it's possible he's trying to branch out into fact checking now, but I'd love to know how he pulled off the blue check mark, especially given that they're supposedly not being awarded anymore.

The protecting of his tweets was interesting, too. You'd think he'd WANT publicity, even on the negative side. If the right wing hates you, then the left is more likely to be warm to you.

But it kind of looks like his plan was to slowly build up credibility and a following, and not go viral at the beginning of the whole thing, thus raising questions about his credentials and lack of following.

Bizarre.

BCR has seen everything, knows everyone

[BCR]

I haven't seen any BS right wing blue check accounts. Yeah, I've seen some with conspiratorial material, but they had a following. I've never seen the right wing equivalent of this Trusted Report Team account. Maybe you have, though, BCR. Can you link one of them next time you run into it?

Looking at this guy's other blogs, he seems more like a troll/parody type guy, and not even someone trying to put out serious political commentary. For example, his "Ministry of Chargebacks" blog, while barely used, pretends to be an official authority on (presumably credit card) chargebacks.

I guess it's possible he's trying to branch out into fact checking now, but I'd love to know how he pulled off the blue check mark, especially given that they're supposedly not being awarded anymore.

The protecting of his tweets was interesting, too. You'd think he'd WANT publicity, even on the negative side. If the right wing hates you, then the left is more likely to be warm to you.

But it kind of looks like his plan was to slowly build up credibility and a following, and not go viral at the beginning of the whole thing, thus raising questions about his credentials and lack of following.

Bizarre.

I had never really seen an account like this before either, it was here someone linked it, but I can’t recall name. This site had thousands of followers by this point, and I don’t know when it got the check mark, but when I looked at when it was created, it was 2011, but didn’t make any tweets between 2013 up until a month ago.

The weird part is the really old tweets weren’t political at all. Made me wonder if it was possible to get a twitter account that had been verified in the past and the turn it into something else. Like maybe people were buying old verified accounts. The old tweets, there weren’t many, had as I said like 3 shares. The new ones had hundreds or thousands and it was total crazy shit. That was the part I couldn’t figure out. My first thought was verified accounts being sold, but I couldn’t figure out why it would have been initially verified years ago if it only had a couple likes and shares. Idk when twitter started? Maybe it was beta accounts or something was my thought?

If Joe is saying you can’t even get something verified now, then I’d guess there is some angle people are exploiting. I haven’t seen some massive proliferation of them. You just read comments and it’s happened a few times in last month where it’s something silly with a blue check mark. Yours is probably the 4th one I’ve seen that doesn’t seem like what they usually give a check mark to. Im not a frequent user though, so I wouldn’t begin to understand how it happened that some site with a handful of followers has a check mark.

[JoeD]

Here's the link to the Twitter Verification FAQ. At least it's what my account goes to. Maybe it's different for others. I have no idea.

https://help.twitter.com/en/managing...ified-accounts

[Sidewinder]

For those wondering, blue check marks are supposed to be for high profile accounts of well known people or entities, in order to keep them from being impersonated.

Thus, if you start up a new biased "fact checking" service which nobody has ever heard of, it doesn't qualify for a blue check mark, because it has no social standing. It's unknown, and thus isn't eligible for blue check mark status. You have to be notable in some way to get a blue check mark.

Obviously some guy tricked Twitter into believing he had a legit fact checking operation, and Twitter is so fact check obsessed that they bought it. Now the tweets are protected, presumably by Trusted Report Team, out of embarrassment that their early fact checking was full of mistakes, and they're hoping this story goes away.

ur pretty naive if u think they were "tricked"

Twitter like all social media, takes book burning and propaganda very seriously.

No one snuck in through an unlocked window and started lying about the government on accident.

LOL

[JimmyG_415]

I'm am truly awe inspired how Druff can act sooooo appalled by a guy w/54 followers,
who hasn't lied yet.
But when we just had a president who had millions of followers & lied over 30k times, no such outrage.
I'm not real familiar w/snopes, but I'd bet my life Trump has lied more times.

What a joke, Save the fake outrage, you revere liars.


Trump’s false or misleading claims total 30,573 over 4 years
https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...er-four-years/

[Dan Druff]

Account suspended!

From blue check mark to suspended!

What a world.

[dwai]

Account suspended!

From blue check mark to suspended!

What a world.

BIG DEAL THOUGH, WHAT ABOUT TRUMP'S 30 LIES?

YOU JUST GONNA IGNORE THAT?

[rum dick]

Who is "Trump"?

[Dan Druff]

I forgot to update this.

The account behind "Trusted Report Team" was eventually linked to China.

So this no longer looks like a troll like I first thought it was.

It's still unknown how they pulled off getting a new account with a blue check mark, when this was supposedly impossible at the time, according to Twitter. I guess China has its ways.

Very shady.

[ftpjesus]

I forgot to update this.

The account behind "Trusted Report Team" was eventually linked to China.

So this no longer looks like a troll like I first thought it was.

It's still unknown how they pulled off getting a new account with a blue check mark, when this was supposedly impossible at the time, according to Twitter. I guess China has its ways.

Very shady.

Jack Dorsey giving fellatio to the CCP color me shocked.