House Republicans warn Taliban purchasing Twitter verification

House Republicans are sounding the alarm over the apparent purchases of verified accounts on Twitter by various terrorist groups, including the Taliban.

In a letter to Twitter CEO Elon Musk, a group of Republican lawmakers, including Texas Reps. Pat Fallon, Keith Self, and Ronny Jackson, as well as Guam delegate James Moylan, raised concerns that bad actors could be using the platform to spread propaganda.

"Recent reports of Taliban officials purchasing blue checkmarks on Twitter have raised concerns that they may be using the algorithms associated with the program to spread hate, radical idealism, and terrorist propaganda," they wrote, according to the Washington Times. "It is important to note that the United States does not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan."

While the Taliban do not enjoy international recognition of their regime, the group currently operates as the nation's de facto government and exerts practical control over the entire country.

The lawmakers also called attention to other terror groups such as ISIS making use of the system.

Musk's recently introduced Twitter Blue feature allows users to subscribe to a sort of premium service that also includes a verification marker that depicts a white check within a blue bubble, often erroneously identified as a "blue check."

The service was put on pause last year amid a tumultuous rollout that saw many accounts purchase verifications to impersonate prominent figures, among other issues. A relaunch featured verified logos of different colors for individuals, businesses and government accounts.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.