There’s never a dull moment in the life of Felix Kjellberg aka PewDiePie, and that usually extends to his YouTube videos. But the infamous streamer has landed himself in hot water with Twitter and “America” for removing his verification tick on Twitter.
The YouTube star’s Twitter account endured a few ups and downs yesterday.
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Sequence of events
PewDiePie, according to a vlog, had his Twitter verification tick removed from his account, instead replacing it with a globe. After this, a news source masquerading as Sky News tweeted a fake article suggesting that the star’s verification was removed “due to suspected relations with ISIS”.
PewDiePie claims that the verification tick is being used as a mark of importance on Twitter
PewDiePie then retweeted the original fake article, and replied with this tweet.
Me and @Jack_Septic_Eye have joined isis. Which is why we both got unverified.
— Felix Kjellberg
(@pewdiepie) August 30, 2016
That tweet landed the star in hot water with Twitter officials, and was subsequently suspended from the social network.
A social media rollercoaster
In response to Twitter users’ reactions to his missing verification tick, PewDiePie explains in the above-mentioned vlog that this tweet was merely poking fun at those who regard the verification tick as a status symbol.
“I’m fairly certain social media is making us all retarded,” he explains in the vlog.
“And yesterday Twitter went full retard.”
Twitter generally awards users a verification tick to denote importance on the social network, be it as a prominent tweeter, respected individual in a field, or a celebrity. It has also suspended accounts in the past on grounds of suspected ISIS connections.
PewDiePie’s Twitter account is currently accessible, but his follower numbers have taken a hit.
Feature image: camknows via Flickr
