New York Times lost its verified “gold” tag on its Twitter page on Sunday as Elon Musk launched an attack on the publication, calling the organisation “propaganda”. Twitter’s new rules state that organisations can apply for a new “gold” tick, and individuals will have to shell out money for a Twitter Blue subscription.
The New York Times has said that it does not plan on paying a monthly fee for verified check mark status on Twitter. A spokesperson for the publication made the announcement, hours after it lost its verified badge. The company will also not pay individual reporters for their Twitter Blue personal accounts.
“We also will not reimburse reporters for Twitter Blue for personal accounts, except in rare instances where this status would be essential for reporting purposes,” the spokesperson added.
Twitter announced a few weeks back that several Twitter accounts will lose the check marks from April 1 as the social media company will begin winding down its legacy verified program.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk slammed NYT on Sunday for saying no to the paid verification scheme.
“The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting”, Musk wrote on the platform.
The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2023
“Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea. It’s unreadable,” he added.
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2023
The New York Times, among other firms and charities, had already lost its blue tick and was tagged as a verified business account with a gold tick under Musk’s new system.
Organisations that want a verification badge on their handles have to pay a monthly fee of $1,000 for a gold verification tick. Individual handles need to pay $8 a month for a blue tick.
Elon Musk, on Friday, defended his contentious pay model for Twitter, asserting that any social media site that didn’t adopt a similar model would fail and be swarmed by bot accounts.
(With inputs from agencies)
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