Melquisedec Torres: suspended for using a political leader's photo in his profile

On January 28, the account of Colombian journalist Melquisedec Torres was suspended on X. From that platform, where he has more than 60,000 followers, Torres, a member of the working group of Caracol Radio's La Luciérnaga, has positioned himself as a figure critical of the government and has published content of public interest.

In an email, the company notified him that he had been penalized for violating the rules on authenticity, which prohibit, among other things, impersonation. According to this policy, users may not "assume the identity of other individuals, groups or organizations in order to deceive others." Exceptions to this rule are fan and parody accounts, when "their purpose is discussion, satire or information sharing."  

Neither the personal data of the account nor the content had changed to justify the suspension. However, about two weeks earlier, during the disputed presidential inauguration of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, Torres had posted an image of María Corina Machado on his profile picture, in support of the Venezuelan opposition leader.

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For more than two years, the journalist has been a subscriber to X's Premium service, which for a monthly fee offers users special features, such as longer posts, detailed metrics and a blue verification badge - with which public figures and officials used to be recognized. As requirements to obtain the verification badge, in addition to the subscription payment, it is necessary to have a visible name, a profile picture and a confirmed phone number. 

When users change their profile picture, a review is automatically performed to validate whether they still meet these requirements. While the email Torres X received states that the account had been reviewed by a human moderator, the context in which the image change occurred and the contents of the account should have been sufficient to rule out the idea of impersonation. 

Since the company implemented the X Premium system, initially known as Twitter Blue, a lack of consistency in policy enforcement has been the constant. Last year, an NBC investigation found that at least 150 accounts subscribed to this program had amplified pro-Nazi content, prohibited by the platform's hate speech rules. Meanwhile, in 2023 the Center for Countering Digital Hate also recorded that 99% of hate content posted by premium accounts on X remained online, despite having been reported for breaching the social network's rules.

Melquisedece Torres appealed the decision, but a week later, the account remains suspended. According to the notice, the sanction not only prevented him from recovering his account, but also announced sanctions in case he tried to create a new one.

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