Did a Journalist Lose His 'Blue Check' Twitter Verification for Covering Obama Abuses?

Is Twitter punishing journalists who report on negative Obama stories by taking away their “blue check” verified status?

A number of reporters are saying that their coveted “blue checks” have been revoked in recent days. Rudy Takala, a reporter and editor at Mediate, says that his verified status was removed within an hour after posting a story about Obama’s spying on journalists.

“I tweeted this column about the Obama administration spying on journalists at 5:47 Thursday. Around an hour later, my verification badge magically disappeared.”

I tweeted this column about the Obama administration spying on journalists at 5:47 Thursday.

Around an hour later, my verification badge magically disappeared.

????? @TwitterSupport @TwitterComms https://t.co/oyP7zJtvd8

— August Takala (@AugustTakala) May 22, 2020

The column in question discussed rampant spying by the Obama administration, as exposed by former CBS journalist Sharyl Attkisson, who says she was spied on by the Obama administration over her investigative reports on Fast & Furious.

“I would say I may not be one of the first victims, but I am one of the first people who was able to identify myself as a target of illegal spying under the Obama administration,” Attkisson told Mediaite. “I believe many, many others were spied on but do not know. It was only thanks to help from intelligence contacts that I even learned that government agents were spying on me. Otherwise, I never suspected it or would have known.”

RELATED: Rod Rosenstein Accused of Leading Illegal Surveillance of Journalist Sharyl Attkisson for Obama Admin

Others have reported losing their verified status on Twitter in recent days as well.

Josh Lekach, who hosts a podcast, found his verified status axed after posting an interview with Laura Loomer.

I interviewed Laura Loomer yesterday, and today my Twitter verification badge is gone.

— 🌴 Josh Lekach 🌴 (@joshlecash) May 23, 2020

It is not clear how many “blue check” Twitter users have lost their verified status recently, and so far there is no response from Twitter on these incidents.

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Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis