The New York Times was stripped of its verified check mark on Twitter last Sunday after Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced a new policy to clamp down on users avoiding payments for “Twitter Blue.”
Musk, along with the official Twitter Verified account, declared on Mar. 23 that verified users had until Apr. 1 to apply and keep their status. If they refused to pay the monthly fee of $8 for individuals or $1,000 for organizations, they would lose both their blue check mark and verified status.
Musk revealed in a tweet reply that this could include The New York Times if it refused to pay for a subscription. Soon after, the publication’s main Twitter account lost its verified status. Though Musk did not elaborate on the reasoning behind The New York Times losing its verified status, he later criticized the media outlet for being “hypocritical” for insisting on people paying for their subscription while refusing to do the same for Twitter.
The New York Times declared on Sunday that they do not intend to pay the monthly fee for check mark status for their institutional Twitter accounts, as well as reporters for Twitter Blue for personal accounts. The newspaper added that they will only make exceptions in rare instances where the status is essential for reporting purposes. In their statement, the Times emphasized their stance on not paying for the verified badge, which they see as an unnecessary expense.
In a tweet, Musk wrote, “NY Times is being incredibly hypocritical here, as they are super aggressive about forcing everyone to pay their subscription.” A New York Times tech article reiterated that the publication would not pay for its verified badge nor reimburse their journalists for the status.
As of Sunday, the publication’s main account lost its check mark, while New York Times’ side accounts, including New York Times Opinion, NYT Politics, NYT Climate, and New York Times World, retained their badges.
Other news publications such as the Associated Press and the Washington Post still retain their verified status.
Musk has frequently attacked The New York Times, calling it fake news or propaganda, over the past year. By November, he derided the publication as “boring af,” tweeting, “It is tragic how far The New York Times has fallen – basically just boring af far left brainwashing at this point. The boring part is truly unforgivable.
