text: 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. ||||| 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. ||||| Tweet with a location 
   
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target: – 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.