In a surprising move, Elon Musk instructed Twitter to remove the New York Times' verified checkmark, seemingly in response to the publication's decision not to pay for the platform's new verification fee structure. The New York Times lost its checkmark on Sunday, stripping it of its verification as a legitimate news organization. The decision was evidently made by Musk himself.
Musk made his feelings about the New York Times clear on his personal Twitter account, stating, "The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn't even interesting." He continued, "Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea. It's unreadable. They would have far more real followers if they only posted their top articles. Same applies to all publications." Notably, the Times is the only major legacy news organization to have lost its checkmark thus far.
The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2023
The likely reason for the New York Times being singled out appears to be their public refusal to pay for the gold check verification moving forward. Companies will now have to pay a $1,000 monthly fee for verification. In response, the Times stated, "We aren't planning to pay the monthly fee for verification of our institutional Twitter accounts." The publication also noted it would not reimburse most employees for their verified accounts, with some exceptions.
The New York Times is not the only media organization to take this stance. CNN, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, among others, have also indicated their intention not to pay. However, it seems that Musk was specifically informed about the Times' position, and based on deleted tweets discovered by Twitter users, he may have taken their defiance personally and decided to revoke their verification early.
In one of these deleted tweets, Musk mentioned giving people a few weeks to transition to the new fee structure (either $8/month or $1,000/month). Upon learning about the New York Times' decision, he appears to have reacted impulsively, resulting in the publication losing its verification status.
As changes continue to take place on Twitter, users are advised to brace themselves for potential turbulence.
