[colllectorof]

>The blue badge is one of the ways we help people distinguish the authenticity of accounts that are of high public interest.

This is gaslighting. That's not how blue checkmarks work in practice. They are a completely synthetic credibility token that is distributed by Twitter based on whose opinions it wants to boost. That is it.

If verified accounts were about authenticity, two things would be true:

1. Anyone would be able to verify their account after completing certain steps. There would probably be a fee, but no "high public interest" requirement (because it's an obviously gameable and subjective criteria).

2. Verification would never be revoked.

[makomk]

This criteria certainly seems to point in that direction: "Activists, organizers, and other influential individuals". I mean, they don't quite outright come out and say that they verify people for advocating for causes that Twitter supports, but I don't think there's any other way to read "activist" really.