Organizer of 'Unite the Right' rally loses Twitter verification

The organizer of the violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville this past August has lost his verified status on Twitter, along with several other prominent white nationalists and far-right conservatives.

News outlets report Unite The Right organizer

on Wednesday lost the blue check mark that was bestowed upon him last month, a move that elicited backlash against the social media site from those who saw verification as an endorsement of Kessler's values or noteworthiness.

Twitter said in a series of tweets that it eliminated the verification status of accounts in violation of new guidelines , which include those that promote discrimination-based hate or violence.

Kessler, who has previously used Twitter to say Heather Heyer's death at the August rally "was payback time," claims he's being censored. Twitter is a private company with no legal free-speech obligations to users.