Elon Musk pulls New York Times' Twitter verified check mark, calling publication 'propaganda'

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The New York Times lost its verified check mark on Sunday after Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced efforts to crack down on users avoiding payments for "Twitter Blue."

Musk along with the official Twitter Verified account announced on Mar. 23 that the social media company would set a deadline of Apr. 1 for verified users to apply and keep their status. Those who refused to pay the $8 per month subscription for individuals or $1,000 per month for organizations would begin to lose both their blue check mark and verified status.

In a tweet reply, Musk revealed that this could include the New York Times should it refuse to pay for a subscription. Shortly afterward, the publication’s main Twitter account lost its verified status.

Twitter owner Elon Musk announced efforts to crack down on users who refuse to pay for "Twitter Blue" services. (Reuters / Dado Ruvic / Illustration / File)

"The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting," Musk tweeted.

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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."

Though he did not elaborate on the New York Times losing its verified status, he later called the media outlet "hypocritical" for insisting on people to pay for their subscription while refusing to do the same for Twitter.

"NY Times is being incredible hypocritical here, as they are super aggressive about forcing everyone to pay *their* subscription," Musk wrote.

A New York Times tech article reiterated on Friday that the publication would not pay for its verified badge nor reimburse their journalists for the status.

"The New York Times, which has nearly 55 million followers on Twitter, said on Thursday that it would not pay for the verified badge for its institutional accounts, including @nytimes. The Times also told its journalists that it would not reimburse them for a Twitter Blue subscription, except in rare cases when it was necessary for reporting," the article stated.

The New York Times refused to pay for its verified status on Twitter. (Reuters / Shannon Stapleton / File)

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Though the publication’s main account lost its check mark, New York Times’ side accounts, including New York Times Opinion, NYT Politics, NYT Climate and New York Times World, retained their badges as of Sunday.

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 as fake news or propaganda over the past year. By November, Musk derided the publication as "boring af."

"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!" Musk tweeted.

The New York Times has likewise criticized Musk. In May, an article claimed that Musk lived in an "elite" community in South Africa "detached from apartheid’s atrocities."

Several other news publications retained their verified status after the New York Times lost its badge on Sunday. (FOX)

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"Elon Musk grew up in elite white communities in South Africa, detached from apartheid’s atrocities and surrounded by anti-Black propaganda. He sees his takeover of Twitter as a free speech win but in his youth did not suffer the effects of misinformation," the New York Times tweeted.