 "Twitter")
The NYT had already lost its blue tick and was tagged as a verified business account with a gold tick under Twitter's new system since Musk took over.
After the Tesla CEO took over the microblogging site last year, he introduced many changes to Twitter's operations including making the blue tick chargeable.
As Twitter transitioned to a paid verification system, the NYT that had refused to pay to maintain its blue tick on the social media platform. The blue tick was earlier an unpaid feature that was used to identify verified accounts.
Musk on Sunday bashed NYT in several tweets describing its feed as the "equivalent of diarrhea" and "unreadable."
Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea. It’s unreadable.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2023
They would have far more real followers if they only posted their top articles.
Same applies to all publications.
He further added that "the real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn't even interesting"
The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2023
Twitter had earlier announced that it would start taking down "legacy" blue checkmarks from April 1 as it transitions to a paid model.
Twitter requires businesses to pay a monthly fee of $1,000 in the United States, and $50 for each additional affiliated account to retain the gold tick after rolling out Twitter Blue -- the paid subscription service.
The NYT had earlier denied paying for a verified business account and said it would only subscribe for blue tick for journalists keeping in mind their reporting needs.
NYT's main account, with nearly 55 million followers lost its gold checkmark. However, its affiliate accounts used for its travel and opinion sections still retain the ticks.
As of Sunday, many media groups and famous personalities who had denied subscribing to Twitter Blue, including basketball star LeBron James, continue to carry blue or gold ticks on their accounts on the microblogging website.
Musk, however, said that the decision to give out the ticks was made by fiat in a secretive procedure, and described it as a symbol of the unfair class system.
