Fact Check: Did Facebook remove the 'blue tick' from Pakistan PM Imran Khan's page?

CLAIM:

Facebook removed the 'verified' blue tick from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's account.

CLAIMED BY:

Social media and a prominent Pakistani journalist

RATING:

Mixture

On Friday reports came in that Facebook has removed the blue tick from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's official social media handle. Pakistani journalist Naila Inayat shared a screenshot of Khan’s Facebook page and the ‘blue tick’ was missing. Sharing a screenshot, she wrote: 'Facebook removes blue tick from prime minister Imran Khan's page.' Her tweet has so far received 754 Retweets and 3.3K Likes.

Blue tick returns

However, just one hour after her tweet, Naila tweeted that the verification tick was back after the word 'Official' was dropped from the ID. The blue tick on social media is a verification badge by portals that lets people know that a page or profile of public interest is authentic and verified. Naila shared a screenshot that read ' What Facebook page names are allowed.' The screenshot said that terms or phrases that are abusive or violate someone's right cannot be used.

Further, it stated that if Facebook has assigned a verified badge to a page then it should no longer use the word 'Official.'

Pakistan PM Imran Khan's page currently shows the blue tick.  (checked on May 10, 08:00 AM)

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Facebook verification

Republic World checked if Naila's document about 'What names are allowed' was authentic and found it to be true. Under the help section, 'What Page names are allowed on Facebook?' the social media handle lists the following:

• Page names must accurately reflect the Page. Keep in mind that only authorized representatives can manage a Page for a brand, place, organization or public figure.

• Page names can't include:

• Terms or phrases that may be abusive or violate someone's rights.

• The word "official" if the Page isn't the official Page of a brand, place, organization or public figure. (Note: If Facebook assigns a Page a verified badge the Page should no longer use the word official in the Page name. Learn more about verified badges.)

• Improper capitalization (example: tHe best CaFE). Page names must use grammatically correct capitalization and may not include all capital letters, except for acronyms.

• Symbols (example: ® ) or unnecessary punctuation.

• Descriptions or slogans (example: The Best Cafe - We serve the best coffee in town). People who manage Pages can add this information to a Page's About section.

• Any variation of the word "Facebook."

• Page names can't consist only of:

• Generic words (example: Pizza). Pages must be managed by official representatives of the topics they're about.

• Generic geographic locations (example: New York). However, you can create a Page name for an organization that represents a geographic location. For example, "New York City – Mayor's Office" and "Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain" are acceptable Page names.

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