Thread by @taradublinrocks

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#AMessageToElonMusk & everyone like him on this Twitter Blue thing to explain why you all need to stop joking about it & why it's really important to keep the Verification process for its intended purpose: protecting our identities 1/?

Donald Trump blocked me in September 2015, but by then I was already a MAGA target even with something like 7K followers. I had tried to get @verified because I had been on the radio in Portland, but was denied. In Sept 2016, the MAGA cyberharassment really amped up 2/?

I had a real-life run-in with a MAGAt who posted a video of me that went viral in the worst way. He made a fake Twitter profile that looked identical to mine, posting a pic of the house I lived in then plus the landline number. Then they tweeted as "me" inviting people over 3/?

Other parodies popped up with the same pic & tweets. As soon as I realized what was happening, I sent my sons to their dad's & contacted @TwitterSafety & @verified & to their credit, I got my blue check within hours. But that was just the beginning of the worst time ever 4/?

The threats to my sons & me over a difference in political opinions--because that is truly what's at the root of all of this chaos--are the stuff of dark web nightmares I will never talk about * can never erase from my mind. Rape & death threats. Over POLITICS. It's insane 5/?

Nobody did this to me or anyone else in 2012. Not a single Mitt Romney supporter ever sent me tweets with that stupid green frog calling me all kinds of MAGA dogwhistle names. I didn't leave my house for 9 straight days because I thought someone was coming to kill me 6/?

I reported everything to my local law enforcement, who did nothing. Then my harasser took ME to court, accusing me of doing to him everything he was doing to me. Thankfully, he lost in court & was stuck with his own lawyer fees. Right after, I got a fresh round of threats 7/?

Because he posted on all of the -chans that he won in court. He LOST. It's a matter of public record. Sound like anyone else you know? So ANYWAY, even though I contacted the FBI Cyber Crimes unit, nothing ever happened to him. There was a warrant for his arrest in WA tho 8/?

My harassment didn't stop then, of course. It's been a part of my daily online existence ever since. Then there was the Matt Gaetz incident in September 2021 where he blew up my life & I got MORE deaths threats & nothing happened to him 9/?

https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1441114475323559936?s=20&t=Qj2nRPUKNPsvhug3kP87sQ

Thanks to Matt Gaetz, this happened. And no, I don't know who was in the car 10/?

https://twitter.com/taradublinrocks/status/1567183726634991617?s=20&t=8L3-nmKmL350U6_z87a_YQ

At the same time, I've now grown my following & I write for two political outlets, @OccupyDemocrats & @HillReporter. I am seen as a trusted source for information. It's vital that people see that what I share is from the real me & can be trusted as sourced information 11/?

The whole point, @elonmusk, is that the blue check isn't there to create FOMO. It's there to ensure our followers know it's really us, people they've come to know & rely on. I come from radio & I know the trust & human connection is what keeps people coming back. It MATTERS 12/?

Figure out a better way to recoup your ridiculous investment, @elonmusk. You could've created your own app or bought Parler, Gab, Telegram, TruthSocial, etc. That you came for Twitter shows you have an agenda that won't do anyone any good. Please leave our accounts alone 13/?

Are you going to charge @POTUS? Every govt account? Every celebrity, journalist, & whoever else is in a position to need that authenticity on their account? It's enough already. Either sell Twitter back & go play somewhere else, or let people choose to pay for Twitter Blue 14/?

Extorting your users & employees is wrong & illegal, @elonmusk. No one is expecting you to act like a compassionate human being, just a smarter businessman. Your $ could be doing good & you've chosen to act like a Bond villain. STOP IT. You're going to get real people hurt /END