Elon Musk strips New York Times of blue check mark after paper refuses to pay

The profile image of The New York Times Twitter account is reflected in tweets by Twitter CEO Elon Musk, in Washington, DC. Twitter has removed the gold ‘verified’ marker from the New York Times' main account, as Musk bashed the news organisation as ‘propaganda’ on Sunday and the platform transitioned to a paid verification scheme. — AFP

The New York Times has lost its Twitter verified badge, after attracting the ire of billionaire owner Elon Musk over its refusal to pay for the privilege.

The main account of The New York Times, which has about 55 million followers, no longer bears a verification check mark, though several of its subsection accounts remain verified. The NYT Books and Food accounts retain their unpaid legacy blue checks, while NYT Travel bears a gold badge as it’s associated with an official organisation on Twitter. The paper was among the first major news publications to say it will not be paying a fee to have its Twitter accounts verified.