UPDATE — 7:10 AM: The profile has now been suspended.
PREVIOUS STORY — 5:04 AM: A parody Twitter account that appeared to be branding itself after MTV’s game show The Challenge was given a gold check mark after posting videos and images of violence.
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The account, which had the handle @ChallengeMTV, appeared to be entirely unaffiliated with MTV or the game show. The account also had #MTV written in its bio. It’s unknown how the holder got the gold tick, which is reserved for the official and verified accounts of businesses that pay $1,000 per month.
Across the account’s timeline, which appeared to be dedicated to commentary and memes that reference the MTV show, the user posted violent videos such as street fights and arguments.
A separate official Twitter account for The Challenge exists, and it is listed as a verified “affiliate of @MTV.” However, the official account only has a blue check mark, which Twitter has said is used to identify those who subscribe to Twitter Blue, not official accounts.
The account holder for the parody profile tweeted the official Twitter account for The Challenge on April 22 with a video meme that appeared the mock the mix-up in verification.
https://twitter.com/ChallengeMTV/status/1649707682561925120
Earlier today, Twitter suspended a fake Disney Junior-branded Twitter account from the social media platform. The account also appeared to be completely unaffiliated with Disney. The account holder tweeted “no f***ing way” earlier this morning in the UK — an apparent reference to the verification.
Twitter also made headlines this morning after Britain First, a far-right political party was given a gold check mark. Paul Golding, leader of the far-right party, was previously convicted for religiously aggravated harassment against Muslims.
Story continues
The group was banned from Twitter in December 2017 after violating the social media platform’s rules against hate speech. The ban was rescinded shortly after Elon Musk’s takeover.
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