Washington: Twitter has removed the gold “Verified” marker new York Times‘ Main Account, as CEO Elon Musk The news organization on Sunday dismissed it as “propaganda” and the platform transitioned to a paid verification scheme.
Musk took over the microblogging platform last year and preferred to open a “blue checkmark” indicating an authentic account to paying customers.
The site announced that it would begin eliminating “legacy” blue checkmarks starting April 1.
The New York Times was among news media companies, firms and charities that had already lost their blue ticks and were tagged as verified business accounts with gold ticks under Musk’s new system.
To retain the gold tick following the rollout of the subscription service, called Twitter Blue, these groups will be required to pay a monthly fee of $1,000 in the United States plus $50 for each additional affiliated account.
The New York Times said it will not pay for a verified business account and will only grant Blue Tick subscriptions to reporters as necessary for their reporting needs.
As of Sunday, the organization’s main account with nearly 55 million followers had lost its gold checkmark, though affiliate accounts, such as those for its travel and opinion sections, retained the tick.
Several media groups and personalities, including basketball star LeBron James, announced that they would not pay for Twitter Blue, maintaining blue or gold checkmarks on their accounts.
In the early hours of Sunday, Musk targeted the New York Times in a series of tweets, saying “the real tragedy of the @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting” and called its main feed “the equivalent of diarrhea” and “unreadable”. . ,
Only a few dozen accounts have been unverified, suspended or have had profile elements removed since Saturday, according to Travis Browne, a Berlin-based software developer who monitors the social-media platform.
He said there had been a recent surge in the number of accounts switching from legacy to the new system — about 60,000 in the past week — but they were “mostly small accounts, and very few had legacy verification.”
Since its creation in 2009, the blue tick became a signature element that helped the platform become a trusted platform for news makers and publicists.
But Musk and his fans said the decision on who got the coveted checkmark was made in a secretive process, and they called it a symbol of an unfair class system.
The changes under Musk put pressure on companies, journalists and celebrities, who used Twitter as their main channel of communication and relied on blue and gold ticks for credibility.
They also raise the specter of imposters and clowns paying for an officially verified, but completely fake account.
Musk took over the microblogging platform last year and preferred to open a “blue checkmark” indicating an authentic account to paying customers.
The site announced that it would begin eliminating “legacy” blue checkmarks starting April 1.
The New York Times was among news media companies, firms and charities that had already lost their blue ticks and were tagged as verified business accounts with gold ticks under Musk’s new system.
To retain the gold tick following the rollout of the subscription service, called Twitter Blue, these groups will be required to pay a monthly fee of $1,000 in the United States plus $50 for each additional affiliated account.
The New York Times said it will not pay for a verified business account and will only grant Blue Tick subscriptions to reporters as necessary for their reporting needs.
As of Sunday, the organization’s main account with nearly 55 million followers had lost its gold checkmark, though affiliate accounts, such as those for its travel and opinion sections, retained the tick.
Several media groups and personalities, including basketball star LeBron James, announced that they would not pay for Twitter Blue, maintaining blue or gold checkmarks on their accounts.
In the early hours of Sunday, Musk targeted the New York Times in a series of tweets, saying “the real tragedy of the @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting” and called its main feed “the equivalent of diarrhea” and “unreadable”. . ,
Only a few dozen accounts have been unverified, suspended or have had profile elements removed since Saturday, according to Travis Browne, a Berlin-based software developer who monitors the social-media platform.
He said there had been a recent surge in the number of accounts switching from legacy to the new system — about 60,000 in the past week — but they were “mostly small accounts, and very few had legacy verification.”
Since its creation in 2009, the blue tick became a signature element that helped the platform become a trusted platform for news makers and publicists.
But Musk and his fans said the decision on who got the coveted checkmark was made in a secretive process, and they called it a symbol of an unfair class system.
The changes under Musk put pressure on companies, journalists and celebrities, who used Twitter as their main channel of communication and relied on blue and gold ticks for credibility.
They also raise the specter of imposters and clowns paying for an officially verified, but completely fake account.