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Twitter has pulled the verification check mark on the main account of The New York Times after the newspaper said it would not pay a monthly subscription, as the social networking service began to remove legacy check marks for all users on the platform.
Late last month, the Elon Musk-owned company announced a deadline as it urged verified users who wished to retain their blue check marks, or verification badges, to buy a premium Twitter subscription in order to avoid losing the checks on their profiles.
The New York Times, which has nearly 55 million followers on Twitter, said in an article published on March 31 that the news organization would not pay for the verified badge for its institutional accounts.
In another statement on April 2, the publication reiterated that it isn’t planning to pay the monthly fee for check-mark status.
“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 newspaper noted.
Musk appeared to comment on The New York Times’ loss of the verification badge in an April 2 tweet, posting disparaging remarks about the publication on the day his company removed the check mark.
“The real tragedy of [The New York Times] is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting,” Musk wrote.
