Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur who was sanctioned by the Trump administration in July over her stance that Israel has engaged in "genocide" against their Palestinian enemies in Gaza, has lost her "blue check" on Elon Musk's X, marking the first time a UN official has lost their verified status on social media.
Her check mark was removed after a legal appeal was sent to Musk by a law firm representing UN Watch, a Geneva-based watchdog group, the organization announced in a press release.
The letter called on the X legal team to remove her checkmark based on her being under sanctions from the United States. Her verification was removed from her account on Monday.
"This is a major achievement," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. "Verification on X provided Albanese with many advantages — greater visibility, algorithmic amplification, and an appearance of credibility. Stripping that badge sends a clear message: anyone who targets U.S. officials and companies and supports terrorists will suffer consequences, no matter their title."
The removal comes less than one month after Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposed the sanctions, citing what he said were her "illegitimate and shameful efforts at prompting the International Criminal Court to take action against officials and companies in the United States and Israel.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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