After Twitter announced late Wednesday that it planned to overhaul its process for verifying accounts, the site started yanking that big blue check mark from a number of prominent far-right users, who proceeded to lose their minds in spectacular fashion. 
 
 Some, like Tim “Baked Alaska” Gionet, the former BuzzFeed staffer turned alt-right weirdo, were permanently banned. Gionet, apparently at wit’s end, dealt with the loss the only way he knew how: by livestreaming his breakdown an an In-N-Out Burger and randomly screaming at innocent passersby. 
 
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 But Laura Loomer, an ex-employee of Project Veritas, James O’Keefe’s right-wing sting operation, but who’s probably best known for crashing a New York City performance of “Julius Caesar” to own the libs, took the loss of her verification especially hard, suggesting, of course, that this is basically just how that movie about the Holocaust begins. 
 
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 When a verified Twitter user ironically responded that, perhaps, something happening on the internet is not at all like the genocide claimed the lives of six million Jews, Loomer doubled down magnificently: 
 
 Although neo-Nazi figures like Richard Spencer and Jason Kessler, who organized the white supremacist rally that turned deadly in Charlottesville, were stripped of their verification, they remain active on the site. So like most things Twitter does to appear like it’s addressing harassment and abuse on the site, the move so far seems mostly like an effort to stop appearing to tacitly endorse the worst people online—without actually barring them from the service that’s in no small part contributed to their rise. ||||| Twitter on Monday suspended the account of a top official of a far-right British group whose anti-Muslim videos President Trump retweeted last month, amid the company's move to crack down on content that promotes hate or threatens violence against people or groups. 
 
 The implementation of Twitter's new rules was the latest attempt by technology companies to crack down on abuses of their platforms in the aftermath of Charlottesville’s bloody demonstration in August. Though Twitter’s announcement in a morning blog post did not make this connection explicit, companies have been scrambling for months to address allegations that their platforms had become breeding grounds for extremist groups. 
 
 Far-right political figures have been criticizing these moves as assaults on their rights to free speech, and some have called Twitter’s new policy part of an effort to “purge” them. Among those whose accounts went offline Monday were three affiliated with the group Britain First, including its main account and those maintained by its leader, Paul Golding, and his deputy Jayda Fransen. It was her anti-Muslim posts last month that were retweeted by President Trump, a move that earned him sharp rebuke from British Prime Minister Theresa May. 
 
 The White House declined to comment on the suspension of the accounts of Fransen and others. 
 
 Britain First also did not reply to requests for comment but, according to a CNBC report, said in an email to members, "Twitter is now only available to those on the 'left' of politics. This latest attack on our movement demonstrates that 'free speech' is only available to those who do not criticize socialism or Islam." 
 
 Late last month, after Trump retweeted three of Fransen’s videos, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that his action was intended to “elevate the conversation” about the issues of “extreme violence and terrorism.” 
 
 The three videos Trump shared were provocatively titled “Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!”, “Muslim destroys a statue of Virgin Mary!” and “Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!” The videos provided no context, and the Netherlands Embassy said that the one about a “Muslim migrant” actually featured a perpetrator born and raised in the Netherlands. 
 
 Following Trump’s retweets, Fransen touted the U.S. president’s promotion of her videos. “Donald Trump himself has retweeted these videos and has around 44 million followers!” she tweeted. “God Bless You Trump! God Bless America!” 
 
 Also suspended by Twitter Monday were accounts for the group American Renaissance, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has called an extremist group, and its leader, Jared Taylor. 
 
 In a statement Monday, American Renaissance said: "Twitter said it has begun enforcing new rules against 'hateful and abusive content.' American Renaissance and Jared Taylor violate none of those rules. Anyone familiar with our work recognizes that we present our dissident political views with civility. We have never even hinted at anything that could be seen as condoning violence or illegality, nor do we associate with those who do. We’ve taken special care to abide by Twitter’s terms of service–old and new." 
 
 [Trump’s retweets elevate a tiny fringe group of anti-Muslim activists in Britain] 
 
 Twitter Monday declined to specify which accounts it suspended or how many. 
 
 According to its new rules, “violent extremist groups” will be prohibited from having accounts on the network. The new guidelines target accounts from groups that explicitly call for violence against individuals or ethnic and other social groups, for example, or make clear that their main objective is to promote violence. Twitter is also going to crack down on hateful imagery such as symbols and logos, which appear in users’ profile pictures or cover photos. Users who break these rules will have one opportunity to fix it; if they violate the rules again, their accounts will be suspended. 
 
 The company will decide which groups meet its definition of a violent extremist group by consulting nonprofit organizations, governments and other experts. Any individual account or tweet that promotes violence against someone will prompt Twitter to suspend that account — temporarily or permanently, depending on how that user has acted in the past. 
 
 Twitter critics have repeatedly called on the company to crack down more on hateful language, imagery and calls for violence spread through its site. But the problem came to a head recently as Twitter has grappled with the growing presence of hate groups on its network — and criticism that it’s allowing hateful rhetoric to spread unchecked. After the company verified the account of Jason Kessler, one of the main organizers of the Charlottesville rally, it then reversed its decision and said it would reevaluate its process for choosing the accounts it authenticates. Kessler's account remains online. 
 
 The Anti-Defamation League issued a statement praising Twitter's crackdown on Monday. "We have long urged Twitter to push back against hateful and violent rhetoric, and these latest actions are encouraging," the group said. 
 
 [Twitter attacked after it verifies account of Charlottesville rally organizer] 
 
 While Twitter has not yet announced new rules around verification, the new guidelines do more closely govern what individual users can post to their profiles. 
 
 The effect of these rules will depends on how Twitter enforces them. The company did not offer further details about how it will consider these rules in conjunction with its “newsworthiness” standard, which has been the company’s explanation for why it has not removed certain tweets from Trump’s account that would otherwise violate its rules for conduct. 
 
 [Twitter users want Trump’s account suspended for ‘threatening violence’ against North Korea] 
 
 In addition to changing its policies, the company is also changing the way it describes some of its rules to users. The company’s “Help Center,” which is the main resource for Twitter users looking for information about its rules, will now also include a “rationale” section that explains more about how Twitter arrived at its policies and how it enforces them. 
 
 Twitter acknowledged that these rules alone won’t come close to fixing everything wrong with the social network, and even cautioned that its efforts to be more strict could result in disciplining some people who haven't broken the rules in the process. 
 
 “In our efforts to be more aggressive here, we may make some mistakes and are working on a robust appeals process,” the company’s blog post said, adding that it will continue evolving its rules based on user feedback. 
 
 John Wagner and David Weigel contributed to this report. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 / Updated By Chelsea Bailey 
 
 Conservative commentator Laura Loomer was banned from using Uber and Lyft after she posted a series of anti-Muslim tweets following the terrorist attack in New York. 
 
 A spokesman for the ride-hailing service Lyft confirmed Thursday that Loomer's account had been "deactivated" following her daylong tweetstorm that blamed Islam and Muslims for the deadly attack. 
 
 A representative for Uber also confirmed that Loomer was banned permanently from using the service. 
 
 Loomer launched into an anti-Muslim rant on Twitter Wednesday, calling for a new ride sharing company to be created that didn't employ Muslims, after it was revealed that Sayfullo Saipov, the suspect in the New York terror attack, was a former Uber driver. 
 
 "Someone needs to create a non Islamic form of Uber or Lyft because I never want to support another Islamic immigrant driver," Loomer tweeted, tagging both companies in the post. 
 
 The tweet marked the beginning of a daylong anti-Islamic social media attack that blamed all Muslims for ISIS terrorism. Loomer also posted a photo of two women wearing hijabs near the intersection where Tuesday's attacks occurred, writing “I bet they’re loving this.” 
 
 Hours later, she re-tweeted reports that she’d been banned from both ride-sharing services. The 24-year-old has responded to the ban by announcing that she will be taking legal action against both companies. 
 
 Related: Milo Yiannopoulos' 'Free Speech' Week Canceled 
 
 “Uber will literally hire an Islamic terrorist, but they will ban a conservative journalist for addressing legitimate safety concerns,” she tweeted. 
 
 The backlash to Loomer's rant was swift and vocal, with many critics accusing the online agitator of stoking racism in the wake of a tragedy. Celebrities also criticized Loomer’s posts, with model Gigi Hadid tweeting that she’s a "f***ing moron," and actress Alyssa Milano posting that she’d reported Loomer to Twitter for hate speech. 
 
 The blowback seemed to embolden Loomer, who continued tweeting about the ban Thursday. 
 
 Loomer describes herself as an independent journalist, but many of her critics have labeled her a vocal member of the alt-right. She previously worked for Project Veritas, which is run by far-right political activist James O'Keefe.
– A few Twitter users lost the coveted blue tick on Wednesday after Twitter released new guidelines regarding verified accounts. The move came after the company was attacked for granting verified status to Jason Kessler, who put together the white nationalist rally that rocked Charlottesville in August (and issued this "vile" tweet about victim Heather Heyer). In a series of tweets, Twitter explained that "verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice ... [but] verification has long been perceived as an endorsement. We gave verified accounts visual prominence on the service which deepened this perception. We should have addressed this earlier but did not prioritize the work as we should have." General verification requests had been put on ice as of Nov. 9 pending a review of the program, and the Guardian reports that Twitter's new policy specifies that accounts that promote hate, support hate groups, or harass users will see verification revoked. Among those to immediately lose the check, per the Washington Post, were Kessler, white nationalist Richard Spencer, and far-right activist Laura Loomer (known for rushing the stage during Julius Caesar and being banned from Uber and Lyft after anti-Muslim tweets). Loomer's response to her notice of verification removal including tweeting "Translation: I'm a conservative" and, per Splinter, comparing her situation to that of Jews during the Holocaust.