Corporate Overlords: Twitter Just Happens to Notice Danny DeVito Was Missing Info for His Blue Check After Supporting Strike Against Nabisco
Twitter briefly removed Danny DeVito’s blue-check verification after the Hollywood star tweeted his solidarity with a labor strike at Nabisco, according to multiple reports.
While Twitter said DeVito’s verification was removed because the actor’s account information was incomplete, the timing has led some to speculate that the social media giant was trying to punish the celebrity for supporting organized labor.
By Friday, DeVito’s account verification had been restored, with Twitter saying DeVito had confirmed the “necessary information.”
The incident started Wednesday when DeVito tweeted his support for Nabisco workers who are striking over contract negotiations and to protest the export of jobs to Mexico by parent company Mondelēz International. “No contracts no snacks,” the actor tweeted.
Support Nabisco workers striking for humane working hours, fair pay, outsourcing jobs.
NO CONTRACTS NO SNACKS— Danny DeVito (@DannyDeVito) August 18, 2021
Soon thereafter, Twitter removed DeVitos’ blue checkmark. More Perfect Union — a pro-union group — said that DeVito confirmed his de-verified status to them.
On Wednesday, @DannyDevito expressed solidarity with striking Nabisco workers.
“NO CONTRACTS NO SNACKS,” he tweeted.
Today, Twitter stripped him of his verified status, DeVito confirmed to More Perfect Union. pic.twitter.com/rbYfM90sOs
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) August 19, 2021
Some speculated that Twitter was trying to punish DeVito for backing the union effort.
Is it true Danny Devito lost his blue check for supporting fair pay, outsourcing jobs, & humane working hours? Just curious @Twitterhttps://t.co/WoWhwDxx4c
— B.R.O.theR. ?uestion (@questlove) August 20, 2021
Twitter deverified Danny devito cause he supports the Nabisco workers strike what a world https://t.co/zvYB8IztQv
— Sandy Pug Games (@SandyPugGames) August 19, 2021
But Twitter said it unverified DeVito because he was missing information in his account. The social media giant said in a statement to Uproxx:
The account referenced was debadged temporarily because the account’s information was incomplete. Our verification policy states that blue badges may be automatically removed from inactive and incomplete accounts, which require a confirmed email address or phone number. We have worked with the account holder to confirm the necessary information and the account’s verification has since been restored.
Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey interacts with students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi on November 12, 2018. – Dorsey hosted a town hall meeting with university students on his visit to the Indian capital New Delhi. (PRAKASH SINGH/AFP via Getty Images)
Despite their left-wing politics, Silicon Valley companies are fighting a growing organized labor movement within the tech industry, with employees at Amazon and Google attempting to form unions.
Amazon has fought aggressively to stamp out union organization efforts within its warehouses and fulfillment centers while earlier this year, employees at Google formed the Alphabet Workers Union, the first successful effort to establish a companywide union at Google.
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