I'd say the blue checkmarks are a better example. They're a stamp of approval from the global corporate hegemony. You can even have yours taken away for expressing unapproved thought.
If they were just proof that someone verified identity, and anyone could get one, they'd be a good feature. But Twitter wanted them to be culturally significant or famous people, and that's where it fell apart.
As for expressing unapproved thought, I all BS on your statement. There are blue-checked people who continued to express heterodox thought who kept their checks right up until they were permanently banned for TOS reasons.
